5,000 Cherry Blossoms
by 2much2handle
Summary: Sakura fled konoha in search of the one thing she seeks most: love. But when she is abducted and forced into a league of criminals as their caretaker, she finally believes all hope to be lost. Or is it...?
1. Prologue

5,000 Cherry Blossoms

Prologue

_**A/N DISCLAIMER NARUTO DOES NOT BELONG TO ME THE SHOW AND MANGA AND ALL OF ITS ENTITLEMENTS ARE PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO AND ASSOCIATIVE COMPANIES**_

_**My Curse **__Killswitch Engage_

Itachi lay, beaten and dying, in a heap against the cold stone floor. His clothes had been ripped to shreds; he lay in rags, with the remains of what was on

him covered in blood. He sighed as his younger brother made his way over to him, gripping his katana fused with chakra loosely at his side. Itachi then looked past his brother, at the girl he loved, and he thought of how much they would never do together. But nonetheless, he was happy for her; she knew nothing of her own love for him, so she would not have to suffer the heartache that came along with his death.

She was kneeling on a futon in the corner, observing the fight with an aloof indifference. Itachi smiled, knowing that she had no memory whatsoever of who he was and how she had felt for him. Sasuke had trained her to be unaffected by the sight of massacre and blood.

But Itachi's smile faded as his eyes once again were laid on Sasuke, who had a satisfied grin covering his face. He let out a triumphant grunt of amusement as he raised his katana for one final blow. Itachi closed his eyes, content that the last thing he had seen was the woman he loved. He took his final breath and braced himself for death, glad that he had been able to love someone during his lifetime.

Sakura beheld the grim sight, but frowned as something triggered in the back of her mind. Her heart was telling her to run to the beaten man that she knew nothing of, and help him; but her head was telling her to obey her master's orders and remain where she sat. But the overwhelming feeling to get up and move, as Sasuke drew closer and closer to this man, became too strong. The urge became irrepressible; she didn't know how to stop it.

So her body, seemingly of its own will, stood and sprinted over towards her master and his brother, and she screamed as Sasuke brought the sword down in one, fluid motion.

She appeared in between the two in an inconceivable instant, ripping the sword with a wicked force straight from Sasuke's hands. She then proceeded, within a matter of less than a second, to run the sword through Sasuke's back and her own chest.

Her eyes widened with pain.

She gasped as the long blade thrust into her skin, spewing blood as it exited through her back. She then stared into the onyx eyes that she finally recognized once again.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as images from long ago flashed before her eyes.

_---_

_His hands again came down to the crevice between Sakura's legs. She moaned as his hand brushed almost everything during its journey to her core. Once it had reached its destination, Sakura felt two of his fingers enter her slowly, and she moaned longer and louder. She was breathing heavily as he built up a quicker pace, causing her to throw her head back in longing. _

_When Itachi slowly slid his fingers out of her, Sakura shuddered, her limbs scattered with chills. She struggled, but he had drained her of a great deal of energy. She felt him slide the nightgown even further up, until it was resting on her handcuffed wrists. _

---

_Sakura knew that Itachi was waiting until he could no longer sense their chakras before he made any noise or movement. And when chakra could no longer be sensed, Sakura knew Itachi would speak. She closed her eyes, waiting for a few moments, but no words ever came. Sakura looked up at the eldest remaining Uchiha and expected to be met with the deadly sharingan eyes that so many fear, but she found that Itachi was no longer in the kitchen. She heard a soft thud on the wall behind her and turned to look, seeing a kunai sticking out of the wall seemingly where her head should be. And a second later she saw some of her hair drifting to the floor and felt her cheek burst open, spurting blood everywhere. She drew a shaky breath, knowing full well that it was only luck that had kept her alive. _

_---_

_Sakura all but sank through the bed and into the floor at his words. In truth Sakura was a virgin, having slept with no one, saving herself for when she found Sasuke. But that would all go to hell now, and somehow Sakura felt as if she deserved it. _

_So she did not object to her punishment, allowing Itachi's hands to roam freely over her stomach and around her back, unsnapping her bra. She herself actually slid the bundle of lace off of her body, surprising him entirely. _

_---_

_Sakura slowly snaked her arms around Itachi's neck as she brought one leg __up,__ and she winked at Kisame playfully before she loosened the tie that held back Itachi's hair. It fell around her face, blocking Kisame from view. She giggled as Itachi ran his hand down her bent leg, but inside she felt as if she would never truly laugh again. Deidara was the second love she had lost in four years; she knew now that she would not leave the compound in search for Sasuke, but she would stay here and learn to tolerate Itachi, just to prevent her heart from dying again. And she knew that she would never be the same when Itachi whispered faintly in her ear._

_---_

_She was still wrapped around Sasori, who had buried his face in her shoulder. This put her in a very awkward position. She was holding one broken soul close while staring up at the face of a man who didn't even have a soul to break, and the only thing she could do to conserve the little dignity he hadn't taken away from her was stare at him with equal contempt. _

_But she felt as if that little dignity was scraped away when that man took her face in his hands and brought it up to his, smothering her in a quiet kiss. She could do nothing; she did not want Sasori to know that she was kissing Itachi and hugging him at the same time. But she did not want to kiss Itachi; she had never been in such a preposterous situation before. So she chose what her heart told her not to but her head said would be the most reasonable decision. She continued to kiss Itachi. _

_After what seemed like forever, Itachi pulled away from Sakura's face, smirking arrogantly. She glared at him as he brought his mouth down to her ear. _

---

_She brought her hand up to meet his, covering it. This spoke so much more than words. It was her way of saying that she has given up. She was telling him with that one touch that she was okay.__ That she could finally love him._

---

_He had reached his limit, and so had Sakura. He finally pulled out of her, causing her to groan at the top of her voice. He fell on top of her, and she held him close, welcoming his warm body on her own. Their ragged breathing was the only noise that now filled the room. And there they lay, both falling asleep right after the other. _

_---_

_He was about to raise his head and his fists, but she caught both of his arms in hers and ripped them out of his shoulders as hard as she could. The blood spurted all over her face and clothes, and he screamed. She threw his arms onto the table, and then kicked him hard in the neck. _

…but worst of all…

_She laughed crazily at the sound of his neck cracking under her shin. She had lost control. She was laughing so loudly that it called the attention of Kisame, Hidan and Sasori, who were all the way on the other end of the compound. As a matter of fact, it was more of an amused shriek than a laugh. _

…he thinks he can touch me.

_She walked slowly over to Sasuke's lifeless body before her, __and __her laughing stopped. She picked him up by his hair, and saw the rest of his body turn in the air, as it was no longer held straight by his neck. His face was splattered with blood as well, and she l__icked it off, wanting to see her former__ love's face once again before he was gone forever. _

_Then she kissed him, holding his cold body close, and threw it to the floor, causing more blood to spew out of his wounds and onto the floor and her legs. She took a kunai out of her leg wrap that she always wore, and removed her shirt and bra. She then found where her heart was in her chest, and she pointed the end of the small knife at it._

---

_Itachi sank further into the wood of the table, burying his face in his hands. Sakura tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it away. He looked __down__ at her with hurt in his eyes. Sakura gasped slightly. It was the first time she had seen Itachi show true, sincere emotion before, other than lust. She quickly averted her eyes from his face, the sight too much for her to take. She turned to Deidara, who smiled weakly at her. She smiled back, even weaker, and found her voice. _

_---_

_She was yelling, and she snarled the last few words. She didn't know how they could be so selfish. She threw a chair into the wall, causing the wood to shatter and the wall to crack, exposing the dim light of outside. It had begun to rain, and the thunder drowned out the sound of the chair crashing into the wall. She glared at Itachi fiercely, __then__ turned to Deidara, who fell out of his chair at her gaze. She picked up the table, causing Itachi to fall, as he was sitting on it, and merely tossed it out of the way. She walked through the newly cleared pathway, and exited, stomping violently the entire way. _

---

_She walked in to find the room dark, lit only with the dim light from the rainy outside. Itachi was leaning against the wall, staring out of the window, similar to how Sakura had been only a few minutes before. When she entered, he made no comment. _

_She made her way cautiously over to the window, putting her hand gingerly on Itachi's arm. He did not seem to notice her touch. She decided, since she was not pinned against the wall, floor, or bed by this time, that it was alright, so she wrapped her arms around him. She smiled, although very surprised, when he returned her gesture, pulling her close with his own arm. _

_"Itachi-kun…"_

_She looked up at the man she loved, wondering if he would ever be the same. He looked down at her as well, though his eyes still had traces of hurt and sadness in them. He heart sunk to see it. She stood on her tip-toes and kissed him gingerly, and he returned it anxiously, as though he wasn't sure how she still felt for him. He took her in both of his arms, and they leaned against the window. He brushed his fingers up her arm, making his way to the strap of her tank top that she wore. He slid it down, along with the other one, exposing her chest completely…_

---

_Sakura opened her eyes, a solitary tear rolling down her cheek. _

So he is still alive…

_She had sensed his too-familiar chakra as he had approached their window. She had been quite fearful, not knowing what he would do, but he did nothing except stand, and for that, she was relieved. _

_And then he had left in a hurry. When she had not sensed his chakra any longer, she opened her eyes and stared at the place where he had been. Her heart grew heavy with the weight of knowing that the Sasuke she had killed had been someone else, probably another one of Orochimaru's subordinates._

_So she got up, as quietly as she could, and grabbed a traveling cloak, throwing just a few things in a small bag. _

He will not win. I _will _kill him.

_And with that, she left a note on the dresser and left, not knowing if she would live to return._

---

"Itachi…kun…"

And for the last time, dark onyx clashed with sparkling green, then it was finished.


	2. The Beginning

Ch. 1

The Beginning

Nothing much was felt anymore in Konoha. Not for the once vibrant youth of the village that is. Both the light and dark of their village were gone.

Sasuke and Sakura. Their absence took a heavy toll on the small shinobi village.

Sakura had always been there for the village, constantly under the tutelage of their beloved fifth hokage, and Konoha had admired her greatly. But she became corrupted by revenge, love and anger, and she ran away from the hidden leaf in search of her love.

To this day Sasuke still remains to be found. Nobody knows if he's alive, or really even cares. Konoha had given up, save for their prized flower.

The blossom-haired young woman, now 17, had endured hell through the past years. Four years ago Sasuke left, and she was an empty shell for months. As soon as she had come out of the darkness, her parents died on a mission escorting an ambassador to the village of the Rain, and she fell into an abyss once again.

When Sasuke had left, she had been only grieving and depressed. But after the death of her parents, she found the world to be a black hole that had targeted her and crushed everything and everyone that was important in her life. She had come to hate all people, save for Naruto, Sai, Kakashi and, of course, her mentor the Godaime. Everyone else constantly consoled her for her losses, feeding her fake smiles and soothing words that never helped. She had come to hate the earth for making her its mortal enemy.

But most of all she had come to hate herself, because she couldn't do anything to save those she loved the most.

She had become a heartless killer that would slay and destroy anything in her way. She made a decision and had acted on it. She was on a mission, her most important one yet, to find the man she loved and bring him back so that she would have a reason for living again.

So she left. She ran from Konoha to find Sasuke.

Presently, Sakura had no inclination as to where she was.

Well, she did have _some_ vague idea—a heading, if you will—she was in a small town, standing outside of a quaint little inn with shinobi from different villages scattered around the general area. Not much, but she could ask someone where she was and gather her bearings.

When she walked inside, Sakura asked for a room and her location. The concierge let out a low, rumbling growl, and Sakura supposed it was actually a laugh. She didn't find anything particularly funny, but she decided to pay it no attention, drumming her fingers on the counter, waiting for a room key.

"I don't think that matters for you anymore, Sakura-blossom. You're coming with us now."

The concierge's reply caused Sakura to blink. _How does he know me…? _But when the monster of a man behind the desk lifted his head, she recognized him at once as Akatsuki; Hishiragi Kisame.

Kunai in hand, Sakura crouched into fighting position and looked around, her mind on high alert for enemies.

She froze, counting four in all.

_And they're all Akatsuki…_

She immediately jumped into action. After hurling her kunai at one odd looking woman with blonde hair that fell over one eye she immediately followed close in its wake, kicking the woman hard in the knee when she caught her knife. The woman toppled over and yelped, and Sakura brought out a shuriken, throwing it at a small red headed coming in fast on her right.

But her fight was cut short when she was hit on a pressure point behind her, giving her only a few seconds to look at her third attacker until she fell to the floor.

"Uchiha…"

When Sakura came around, her vision was slightly blurred and she could not remember anything without thinking too hard. Then her senses sharpened, and she remembered that she had walked into an inn and was attacked by two Akatsuki…no, three…no, it was…

"…_Itachi."_

She snapped her head up as she said it. Her eyes were wide open and perfectly focused now, and she saw that she was chained to a chair. _Of course, why wouldn't he have been there? His partner was. _

Looking around, she also observed that the room she was being held in was all concrete with one metal door and one dim hanging light, right above her. The light made a little ring just big enough to encircle her chair. Outside of the circle, a dark figure was only discernable because of his burning eyes. They flashed red and Sakura's breath caught. But just as quickly as they had changed, they turned back to their usual obsidian once again. The crouching figure appeared in a gust of chilling wind, still crouching, at perfect eye level.

It was as she had feared; one of the most dangerous men known to her was right before her, staring into her eyes intensely, as if he was searching for something he would never find.

Sakura also noticed that he had removed his Akatsuki robe, leaving him in only black shinobi pants and mesh shirt. Even though she hated him for what he did to Sasuke, she could not deny that he was a very nice looking man. Along with his face she studied his body, and saw that it was flawless. Perfectly toned and with little scarring. But the scars that were there looked deep and nasty, and Sakura, being a medical specialist, assumed that the majority had been life threatening. Itachi let out a soft laugh, and Sakura snapped her eyes back up to his face. It was then that Sakura realized that she had been staring.

"Do you like what you see, love? I assure you, if you cooperate, you will be seeing much more."

Sakura blushed fiercely and let out a small cry of indignation.

"You sick bastard."

Itachi laughed yet again, sounding even more amused than before. It was truly a haunting sound, Sakura thought.

"What exactly do you want from me?"

She tried to put as much spite into her words as she could. But even with that, her adversary's face did not change. That just added to her frustration.

When Itachi spoke, he had a knowing glint in his eye, causing Sakura to narrow her eyes.

"Are you familiar with my little brother?"

A spark of anger flared in her, and she had never wanted to kill someone so much. _Of course I'm familiar with him. You knew that! Why else would you take me?_

She shook with hatred, and she snarled, trying frantically to break the bonds on her chair to get to Itachi, who was so close to her. But she only ended up thrashing in his direction, like a caged animal, as she could not break her chains.

Itachi smiled again, getting the reaction he wanted.

"Are you, now? I expected as much."

She stopped whipping about, only glaring, pure malice emanating from her very self.

"I need you to find him for me, love. He will come to you."

Sakura's eyes narrowed further, and her cheeks flushed. She began to shake again, with a little fear in her jagged movements. _He's using me, playing to my weakness. My only weakness…_

When she spoke, her voice was small, no more than a light whisper.

"Never."

"I see that the thought does not appeal to you. Are you afraid of him, love? Are you afraid that he will kill you if he sees that you have led me to him, afraid that he will hate you? Or…are you afraid of what _I_ will do to you if you do not comply?"

Sakura didn't answer. She only sat, trembling, in the cold steel chair in the small concrete room. Itachi suddenly vanished and Sakura let out a soft cry of alarm. But just as quickly she felt him reappear behind her. She did not want to turn her head and look at the man that reminded her so much of Sasuke, but at the same time was everything he wasn't. Silent tears streamed down her face when he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. Violent tremors wracked her body when he slowly ran his hands down the length of her arms all the way to her hands. He took her hands in his and intertwined their fingers, Sakura now sobbing freely. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Sakura yelped as he bit her, drawing blood. She shuddered as he licked the blood away from the bite.

"Just thought I'd leave my mark. Now be a good girl, love. Find him for me and you live. It's that easy. Refuse, and who knows…"

—he appeared in front of her again—

"…what I might do to you."

Still shaken and crying, Sakura whimpered when he took her face in his hand. He moved closer, putting his elbow on her thigh and resting his chin in his palm. She slowly looked up at him, her face still in his hand.

"So fragile...it's a wonder you haven't just…snapped in half."

Sakura bit her lip and tried to pull away from him, but he only lowered his face to hers, adding to her discomfort.

"Where is he?"

Sakura still said nothing.

"I assure you that if you do not provide a sufficient answer your punishment will be much worse than a bite. I advise that you _obey_."

Sakura thought. At first she decided that she should continue and lead them in an opposite direction, then kill them somewhere secluded. But then reason intervened, and she knew that there was no way in hell that she could kill four Akatsuki, much less this man before her. So she decided that she would not comply to his demands until she knew what he _really _needed Sasuke for. And with this, a thought struck her.

"I thought you were waiting for him to kill you? Why, then, would you seek him out?"

With her question, the sparkle in Itachi's eyes faded and it was replaced with a flame of anger. Even so, only his demeanor changed. He hesitated a few moments before speaking.

"There has been a new…development. In short, I have decided to kill him before he poses a threat to the entire Akatsuki organization."Sakura drew in a hissing breath, her heart breaking. Nonetheless, she couldn't give up yet.

"And what is this new development…?"Itachi's face darkened, and he decided that it was not necessary for her to be kept in the dark.

"Sasuke has fully merged with Orochimaru. His body is nothing but a container for him now. The boy from your childhood is no more. His spirit, mind and soul are destroyed."

Sakura let out a shuddering breath, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. She only stared forward, into the black abyss that was Itachi's eyes. They reminded her so much of her dark days after Sasuke left, training relentlessly, becoming a killing machine. She felt the tears, she tasted the salt. But her face did not change. She looked desperately at the man in front of her, silently pleading that he would take back his words, tell her that it wasn't true. But he only stared back at her, his face and eyes as stoic as ever. Then she cried out in agony, the tears coming harder and faster. It seemed as if they would never stop.

She screamed at Itachi, telling him that all of this was his fault, that he selfishly left Sasuke alive, knowing that his lust for revenge would one day consume him. She called him terrible names, all phrased in incoherent, biting sentences.

But he still maintained his monotonous, smooth manner, making Sakura double over in her chair. She knew that she could not touch him, mentally or physically. It angered her; it made her feel weak. The man she loved was lost to her forever. And it was all because of the murderer crouching before her.

She sucked in a gasping breath when the chains constricting her clattered to the floor, making it much easier to breathe in her current position.

And, yet again, Sakura felt a sharp pain on the back of her neck, and the next thing she knew, the floor was rushing up to meet her.

Sakura awoke, rubbing her neck as she groaned. She was in a lot of pain; the back of her neck had been hit—hard—twice already. She scowled, thinking about how they thought they could just pick her up and keep her wherever they wanted to.

But none of that seemed to matter when the memories of only a few hours ago came flooding back to her, causing her to weep silently yet again.

_--- --- --- _

_"There has been a new development. In short, I have decided to kill him before he poses a threat to the entire Akatsuki organization."__Sakura let out a hissing breath, her heart breaking. Nonetheless, she couldn't give up yet._

_"And what is this new development…?"__Itachi's face darkened, and he decided that it was not necessary for her to be kept in the dark._

_"Sasuke has fully merged with Orochimaru. His body is nothing but a container__ for him now__. The boy __from your childhood __is no more. His spirit, mind and soul are destroyed."_

_--- --- --- _

And just as her thoughts concluded, Itachi himself slid the door open, making sure it was completely closed, his movements slow. Turning back around, he looked Sakura up and down, but he remained seemingly emotionless.

Sakura spat at him, but Itachi was at the bed sooner than the projectile could reach him. And, before she realized it, he was on top of her, holding her hands above her head, quickly snapping what she believed to be handcuffs on her small wrists and wrapping them around the bedpost.

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed, wondering how her flawless skill and tact could possibly permit her to be here, of all places, in this very situation. The brother of the man she loved was hovering above her on all fours, his hands on either side of her face, his legs spreading hers apart. The only article of clothing he had on was his shinobi pants he had been wearing at the interrogation; the mesh had been removed. The only article of clothing _she_ was wearing was a small silk nightgown. They were on top of the covers. There was nothing except their minimal clothing in between them. Itachi's hair was not held back; it fell like a black drape around Sakura's face, although it was not long enough to touch the bed. It stopped around two inches above the cover.

Bottom line: if Sakura did not agree this time, Itachi would rape her.

On the other hand, if she did agree, she would have to take them with her to find Sasuke, and they would almost assuredly kill him.

She could not live with that. She would never agree to lead them to him.

She still loved who he once was.

Sakura opened her eyes again, staring up at Itachi with iniquity in her eyes, and she saw that he was studying every inch of her, just as she had done to him in the interrogation room. The only difference was that he enjoyed being goggled at; Sakura was blushing furiously, and hated the feeling. She squirmed, trying to somehow hide her body from his curious and wanting gaze. But she had nowhere to squirm to; he had her trapped under him, and he was too strong for her to do anything about it.

He moved his eyes up her legs, and they got higher and higher, past her thigh, and that's when Sakura felt too uncomfortable to _not _do anything about it.

Growling, she whispered, quite threateningly, "That's _definitely _not for you."

Itachi only sneered at her.

"Ah, but that, love, is _definitely _not for you to _decide._"

With that, Itachi's hand followed his eyes. Sakura felt his rough hands make their way slowly up her smooth porcelain legs, and she whimpered as a terrible thought crossed her mind: if she was forced to give her virginity to this man, this specific man, it would be a betrayal of Sasuke—or, at least, the Sasuke he had formerly been. What was she doing, accepting this—however reluctantly—like a common whore?

_No Sakura, you are no whore, you are doing what it takes to save Sasuke. You love him. This is the best thing to do in your situation. _

But another voice piped up in her mind. One that sent a chill up her spine.

_Sakura, you _are _a __whore…you know you want this just as much—or even more—than _he _does. You're not fighting back because you see so much of Sasuke in him. You think you could _love _him. So then, you're a whore, Sakura. Settling for any man that comes your way…_

Sakura shuddered as she heard the voice, her tears flowing much faster. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. She hated this man…

But the advances that Itachi was making were distracting her from her thoughts. Since Sakura had no undergarments on, he could easily use her as he wished without her even taking of the nightgown. His hands were now making their way under the gown, and Sakura was becoming afraid. So he hadn't lied. He really was going to _rape _her. Her breathing became heavy and fast and she struggled even more to escape his touch.

"No…please, don't …Itachi, don't, I beg you…everyone…will think I am filthy…I'm not good enough…please…"

Itachi's face had been lowered to her neck, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin as he laughed softly.

"You are only a young girl. You know nothing of a man's mind. Frankly, if a woman puts herself in front of him, a man will take advantage of any chance he gets."

He licked her neck, tasting the salty tears that were flowing down her smooth cheeks. She closed her legs around his hips, fighting the hormonal urge to ask him to take her now. With that involuntary movement, Itachi also fought the hormonal urge to do just that.

Sakura whimpered, louder this time, and she tried even harder to get up off the bed, but her legs wouldn't move from around his hips, and she let out a little squeal of frustration. The loss of her hands also made her position much more difficult, preventing her from using her full force to push him off. And her struggles stopped slowly, bit by bit, when Itachi wormed one of his arms under her back, pulling her into his chest. He was warm, and it seemed meant to be as her body fit perfectly against his. But Sakura only saw this as hell, and a tear escaped her eyes as his other hand took hold of the hem of her nightgown and worked it up.

Sakura was suddenly colder as the gown was slipped up to her shoulders.

"No, no…please, no, Itachi…"

Her body was completely bare, open for him to see. But his bottom half was still clothed, and Sakura took comfort in knowing that he couldn't have her yet.

His hands again came down to the crevice between Sakura's legs. She moaned as his hand brushed almost everything during its journey to her core. Once it had reached its destination, Sakura felt two of his fingers enter her slowly, and she moaned longer and louder. She was breathing heavily as he built up a quicker pace, causing her to throw her head back in longing.

When Itachi slowly slid his fingers out of her, Sakura shuddered, her limbs scattered with chills. She struggled, but he had drained her of a great deal of energy. She felt him slide the nightgown even further up, until it was resting on her handcuffed wrists.

"No, Itachi…don't you dare, you've disgraced me enough…can't you leave me in peace...?"

When he answered her, Itachi's voice held a mocking tone, which irritated her to no end.

"Sakura, you will endure your punishment for not satisfactorily answering my questions and not submitting to my commands. I just hope you will learn to enjoy it here with the Akatsuki. It is your _permanent_ home." He lowered his face slowly, intending to kiss her, but was only stopped by her insane crying and cold words. He closed his eyes and sighed; he knew it would be difficult to crack her, but this was ridiculous.

"I would rather die than live here…with you..."

Itachi did not answer to this. Instead, his eyes became enraged, and he violently thrust his face even closer towards hers.

He did not speak, but he was breathing heavily, and Sakura thought she saw a small trace of hurt and sadness in his eyes.

When he did not calm down, Sakura closed her eyes and awaited what was to come. But almost immediately she felt a weight lifted off of her, literally, and she opened her eyes, seeing that Itachi had gotten off the bed and was now removing her handcuffs. When they were off, he yanked the ridiculous night gown off of Sakura completely, and she was so shocked that she did not do anything about it. She still did not resist when he stood her up and threw a tee shirt and baggy sweatpants on her, though it was quite obvious that the clothes belonged to him, as they were at least three sizes too big for her.

And, without a word, the infamous Uchiha Itachi stormed out of the room, even darker and moodier than ever.


	3. Know Nothing Else

Ch. 2

Know Nothing Else

Sakura awoke that morning with a sick feeling in her stomach. Itachi had not finished what he had started, and Sakura didn't know why. She stumbled out of bed, tripping on the long sweatpants. She decided that, if she was to live here, then she would at least accommodate herself a little, so she searched the drawers for a kunai to cut the bottoms off the pants. When she finally found one, it was quite dull, and she was surprised it cut the thick fabric. _Shit. _They were still too long for her, and now with very uneven edges. _Oh well. At least they're __something_

Sakura noticed that a brush, foundation and mascara had been placed on a small wooden table next to the door to the bathroom. She walked into said room and applied her makeup, taking extra time on her hair just because, for once, she had time to.

When she had finished her quick cosmetics session, Sakura exited the room, closing the door softly behind her. By looking out the window Sakura could tell that it was still very early, because the sun was just beginning to rise. She padded down the hall in sock-feet, trying to be as quiet as she could. She didn't know where Itachi had gone; he had not actually slept in the room last night. But, glaring at the nothing in particular, she realized that she didn't care.

_If he wants to act like a child and run off and never come back that's perfectly fine with me. _

Sakura found herself wandering through the Akatsuki compound, completely lost. So she decided to sit and think, retrace her steps, and try to find a kitchen where she could quietly make breakfast. So she plopped down silently on the wooden floor of a small hallway and sat up against the window. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the way she had come.

When she thought she had gathered herself a little bit, she opened her eyes, only to attempt a scream. In front of her was the blonde woman that she had tried to cripple the night before at the inn. But she now felt slightly embarrassed at thinking exactly that; after further inspection, what she saw before her was a very well sculpted _man. _But before she could make a sound, the man placed his hand over her mouth, muffling her cry.

"You wanna wake weasel-boy, yeah?"

Sakura just blinked.

"Um, no…it's just, well, you startled me…"

"Hush. Kitchen's this way, yeah."

So Sakura followed close behind the blond man, puzzled at his peculiar speech.

"Oh, and by the way…I'm Deidara, yeah."

She nodded and introduced herself as well.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Sakura saw that two other Akatsuki members sat at the table. She recognized one of them as Kisame, the rogue ninja originally from the village of the mist. The other she knew as Sasori the Puppet Master. Deidara told her to sit, and Sakura picked a spot at the table. She saw that there were five places set; two for Kisame and Itachi, two for Deidara and the man with the dark red hair, who she supposed was Deidara's partner, and, to her great surprise, one for her. But since there were only four others, there weren't as many Akatsuki as she thought.

"There are more Akatsuki other than us, yeah. Some just don't live here."

Sakura started. She didn't know what to say to somebody who apparently knew what she was thinking.

"Don't worry, yeah. I can't read minds. We Akatsuki are rigorously trained to anticipate the reactions of our opponents in battle. It helps outside of battle some too, yeah."

Sakura couldn't stop a small smile from gracing her face as the peculiar man let out a soft chuckle at his own words. It seemed that Sasori had noticed, because he commented.

"Sakura-san, I am struck by your smile. It is truly beautiful."

Flustered, Sakura said thank you and was surprised at how deep the small male's voice was. It did not suit his size. But a man whose size it _did_ suit let out a low rumble of a laugh that Sakura recognized, and she turned to see Kisame eyeing her curiously.

"Well, Sasori sure likes you, blossom. It's not often that he speaks. For him to talk to a complete stranger without being spoken to first is a goddamn miracle."

Sakura giggled and turned again to Sasori, waiting for a reaction. He merely sighed, closed his eyes, and finished his tea. When he was done, though, he calmly threw the cup at Kisame's head. When it made direct contact, a small grin replaced his normally stoic line of a mouth, showing his triumph. Kisame cursed, and Sakura laughed. She also happened to look up, but gasped slightly when she saw that Deidara was gazing at her, half smiling, caught up in thought. He spoke when he realized that she had noticed his impenetrable gaze.

"Sakura-san, your laugh is as clear and as refreshing as summer bells. It is truly beautiful."

Sasori glared at Deidara for stealing his line, but decided that it was alright, now aiming his anger towards the bored writer who couldn't think of anything else to type. He then glanced up at the doorway, nodding his head as a good morning gesture to an unknown recipient. Ignoring the obvious, Sakura turned around to see who the interloper was, and she nearly choked on the eggs Deidara had just set out in front of her.

"Wow. Attractive, yeah. Egg would be a good look for you, Sakura-san."

Sakura merely shot him a cold glance. But Itachi, having just walked in, turned to look at Deidara disapprovingly, and told him to get out.

"I need to speak with the girl alone."

Sakura swallowed the egg hurriedly, glaring at the tall man in the doorway. She let out an irritated groan.

"Excuse me, Uchiha, but I'm quite sure you remember my name, because—surprise surprise—I do have one. As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly you said it many, _many _times last night."

Itachi stood, stunned at her comment, she and him being the only ones in the room that knew it was not true. Deidara and Kisame blinked in silence, then burst out laughing, but exited the room nevertheless. Sasori picked up the broken shards of teacup that had made successful contact with Kisame's head and then left as well. Sakura knew that Itachi was waiting until he could no longer sense their chakras before he made any noise or movement. And when chakra could no longer be sensed, Sakura knew Itachi would speak. She closed her eyes, waiting for a few moments, but no words ever came. Sakura looked up at the eldest remaining Uchiha and expected to be met with the deadly sharingan eyes that so many fear, but she found that Itachi was no longer in the kitchen. She heard a soft thud on the wall behind her and turned to look, seeing a kunai sticking out of the wall seemingly where her head should be. And a second later she saw some of her hair drifting to the floor and felt her cheek burst open, spurting blood everywhere. She drew a shaky breath, knowing full well that it was only luck that had kept her alive.

And again, Sakura was alone.

Sakura still sat dazed at the table, staring down at the floor and clutching her cheek, when Deidara and Kisame reentered the room. She did not make any notice of their presence, but only looked up quickly to see who it was, then looked back down at the seemingly intriguing floorboards. She also noticed that Sasori was no longer with them. When Sakura sat unmoving for a few minutes more, Deidara could not remain silent any longer. He and Kisame took their places at the table and tried to talk to her.

"Uh, Sakura-san, are you alright?"

Sakura looked up, and Deidara felt his heart sink just by looking into her eyes. When she spoke, Sakura sounded so feeble, so delicate. He wondered how anyone, even Itachi, could allow themselves to hurt and disgrace something so innocent and pure. The mere sight of her threatened to break his heart. He also noticed that she had fresh blood running down the right side of her face. He suppressed a sorrowful sigh.

"I just don't understand…Why does he hate me so much, what bothers him so much that he has to take it out on me…?"

Deidara leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, sighing deeply. When he answered, he spoke slowly, as if he was choosing every word carefully.

"See…Itachi lives in constant misery. He's desperate for someone to overlook his past and see through his hateful and malicious exterior. When he saw that you may be capable of such a feat, because of your apparent affection for his brother, one who harbors many traits of Itachi's, he jumped at the chance. Your telling him that you did not want to stay here, especially with him, crushed him inside. Now even the slightest trace of hope has been banished from the poor guy, yeah."

After a few moments of thinking over what Deidara had said, Sakura felt as if a hammer was pounding on the inside of her skull relentlessly. _God, what's happening to me…?_

She started to breathe quickly and erratically. All of the emotions she had felt throughout the past few days—anger, terror, lust, hatred, sadness, indignity, and now terribly intense regret and remorse—were now boiling over, and she did not know how to handle it. Her eyes grew wide and they rapidly filled with tears that overflowed almost immediately, and she crossed her arms over her chest, clutching her shoulders and doubling over in the chair, trying to make herself as small as possible. She vomited on the spot, and she grimaced as she tasted a mixture of bile and salty tears fill her mouth. Her vision was starting to blur, and she was about to fall out her chair until Deidara appeared at her side almost immediately, picking her up and running with her to Itachi's room.

Kisame sat stunned at the scene. He did not think such an insignificant revelation such as this would have such a huge effect on the poor girl. But he supposed it was a mixture of lack of sleep, Itachi tormenting her constantly, Deidara's food and the foreign surroundings that had finally gotten to her. Add the fact that she had completely crushed a man's hope right on top and you have one hell of a panic attack.

Kisame got up and left the kitchen, but stopped right outside of the doorway.

"Bastard."

Kisame heard a soft _"hn"_ from the opposite wall a little further down the hall.

"So you'd been hiding in the shadows, as usual. Watching as yet another innocent person collapses under the strain of your hellish persecution."

Itachi was not actually surprised at his teammate's response. He decided to dismiss it. He began to walk away, but right as he was out of sight, he called out, "He was wrong, Kisame. I harbor no hope. I harbor nothing at all."Kisame shook his head at Itachi's counter.

He said softly, "If only you could see past your small world, my friend. If only."


	4. Repentance Song

Ch 3:

Repentance Song

When Sakura awoke, she gazed up at the blurry outline of a seemingly worried figure hovering over her, looking quite concerned. But she was hit with a pounding headache almost immediately as her eyes registered the light, and she groaned, placing her arm over her eyes. The figure jumped up and hurried to turn out the light, then quickly re-took their post at her side.

For a moment Sakura lay dazed and groggy, her mind in a half state of profound sleep.

And before she knew what was happening, Sakura felt a wet warmth flood over her lips, and she vaguely recognized it as a kiss.

"Mmm…Sasuke-kun…"

She felt the figure break the kiss momentarily at her words, and she pulled him closer to huddle against his warmth. And apparently the man on her thought that it was alright, and Sakura smiled softly as they resumed their kiss.

Sakura could feel that the person was wearing some sort of cloak, and she worked her hands up under the openings and pulled the cloak off the man. She felt the smooth skin of his finely wrought chest and arms slide under her small fingers like satin. The man slid his hands up under Sakura's shirt as well, slipping it off easily. Her chest was bare, and he kissed his way down her neck towards her soft breasts.__

And then the door was suddenly thrown open and light was shed (literally _and _figuratively), the hanging lamp above them flickering on. Sakura nearly died of shock when she saw Itachi standing in the doorway, staring down at her and the man on top of her with his unfeeling eyes. It was also when the light had been turned on that Sakura noticed that the man that her half-asleep mind had checked off as Sasuke was actually Deidara, and she let out a short scream that startled him, causing him to tumble off the bed. She blushed when she saw that she was absent of pants and a shirt, wearing only the skimpy underwear that she had found in one of Kisame's drawers while she was searching for different clothes. And, finally, she observed that Deidara was indeed _not _wearing his Akatsuki cloak _or _his mesh. Just his shinobi pants, pulled down dangerously low, not yet enough to reveal anything.

Deidara fumbled for an excuse as he immediately pulled his robe over him. But when he was that Sakura needed it much more than he did, he ran over to her and put the robe over her mostly naked body. Itachi did nothing. He just stood, staring, with his unfeeling and unrevealing eyes, down at Deidara, then at Sakura, and back and forth. Deidara took this as his chance to leave, and, miraculously, inched his way past Itachi with his life.

_And then there was one. _

Sakura stood, not wanting to look pathetic in the eyes of a man who already hated her. The cloak nearly swallowed her whole, only making her look even smaller and frailer than she already did. Sakura stared into Itachi's eyes, searching for something to warn her of his reaction. But Sakura gasped as Itachi disappeared faster than Sakura's highly trained eyes could see, and she found herself staring only at the spot on the wall where his eyes used to be. She cried out in surprise as she felt herself slammed back onto the bed, and there she laid, Itachi staring down at her with nothing less than revulsion in his eyes.

"What happened?"

"Itachi…get off…"

"I asked you what happened, girl!"

Sakura started to cry. She hated him yelling at her. Somehow it made her think that Sasuke was the one yelling, cursing her and loathing her very essence.

"Nothing, I s-swear…p-please, get off…"

Itachi stared down at her, now with nothing in his eyes, as usual. He too had on only his shinobi pants, and Sakura knew for sure this time that she would pay dearly for her mistakes. He ran his hand down the side of her face, creating an illusion of care, but it was shattered when he slapped her, sending her screaming to the floor. He picked her up by the collar of the cloak and threw her back on the bed, then quickly ripped the cloak off in the same motion. Sakura was now only clothed in some cheap lingerie that he recognized as one Kisame kept for his women. And that only pissed him off more.

"Tell me, love, am I the only man in this compound you _haven't _fucked around with yet? The one you just so happen to share a damn room with? Look at you, sleeping around like a common whore..."

Sakura all but sank through the bed and into the floor at his words. In truth Sakura was a virgin, having slept with no one, saving herself for when she found Sasuke. But that would all go to hell now, and somehow Sakura felt as if she deserved it.

So she did not object to her punishment, allowing Itachi's hands to roam freely over her stomach and around her back, unsnapping her bra. She herself actually slid the bundle of lace off of her body, surprising him entirely.

Sakura trembled as Itachi slowly ran his hand from her chest down her side all the way to her ankle, savoring the ample curves of her breasts and legs. When his hands had reached their midway point he caught the strap of the remaining underwear, pulling it down the length of Sakura's legs progressively. He made the immediate transition from Sakura's legs to the hem of his own pants, pulling them off quickly and positioning himself at Sakura's delicate opening. He could tell immediately that she was a virgin and began to regret his harsh words. But he did not regret the effect that they had. He had gotten this far with almost no struggle at all.

And so, when Itachi entered her, Sakura inhaled sharply, her piercing fingernails digging into his back, which only made Itachi even harder inside of her. He let out a low groan, longing desperately to begin driving in and out of her uncontrollably. And, after a few moments, Sakura's grip on Itachi's back loosened, and he started to pull out, then push in again, repeatedly. Sakura's breathing was erratic and shallow, and she began to moan after a minute, driving him insane. He pulled her up into his lap, and she pushed him back down, positioning herself on top, attempting to alight his good graces and play his game. Sakura began to grind her pelvis slowly over Itachi's, and their longing groans grew louder and louder as Sakura built up a faster pace.

"Sakura…say my name…"

"You're not…w-worth it…"

"_Sakura_…"

"Ita_…__Itachi_…"

"_Louder…_"

"Oh, god, I can't…"

"_Sakura!_"

"_Oh god, __Itach__i__!"_

All the way in the kitchen, Kisame blinked at the sudden outburst from down the hall, then exploded with laughter. Sasori just sat drinking his tea as usual, unphased by the scream of ecstasy that so clearly belonged to Sakura.

But Deidara crushed his porcelain teacup in his hand, all the while staring down at the floor.


	5. The Pretender

Ch. 4

The Pretender

_"And she's not just royal, _

_Pledgedly loyal, _

_But she's faithful _

_Though she has no faith in me. _

_There's the ones that you love, _

_The ones that love you…_

_The ones that make you come…_

_The ones that make you come unglued."_

_-Make You Come Unglued,__ Marilyn Manson_

Deidara paced the floor of his room, anxiously awaiting Sakura's arrival. He had summoned her here to talk about what had happened only a few hours before, and he told himself with every step that no matter what she would say he would keep his composure. He jumped at the sound of the door sliding open, and let out the breath he had been holding when he saw that it was the kunoichi.

"Deidara-kun, are you hurt? Do you need me to heal you, is everything alright?"_If you think about it that way then yeah, I do need some healing of sorts…_Deidara looked into Sakura's eyes, seeing the sincerity and innocence that enhanced them. _There's no way that something so pure would consent to sex with someone like Itachi…_

He moved closer to Sakura, and placed his hands on her shoulders. He tried to read how she reacted to his touch, but saw nothing.

"Sakura-chan, I'm actually quite alright. I just…needed to discuss something with you."

Sakura saw that Deidara was heavily plagued with something on his mind, something that was so worrying that it had temporarily alleviated his characteristic 'yeah's at the end of his sentences. But while Sakura saw that he was searching for how to phrase his words, she thought back on things she wished never happened.

_Deidara running his fingers through her hair, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. His hand fluttering across her stomach and up to her breasts, pulling her shirt up the entire way__…__The way his skin was soft to the touch, how it flowed under her tiny hands so smoothly…_

_And his mouth, so tender and loving, covering hers in a passionate kiss. _

But Sakura also was secretly happy that she had had that kind of encounter with the man. She was glad that she had willingly kissed _someone _in this compound, even if it hadn't been who she thought it was…

But her thoughts were againcut short as Deidara found his words.

"Sakura-chan, I was wondering how you felt for Itachi."

This took Sakura aback. She did not think that his troubles were centered around something of that magnitude. She did not know what to say, so she only stared into the young man's beautiful and innocent blue eyes. But when he looked expectedly at her for an answer after a short while, she laughed nervously, and her response was weak.

"Deidara-san, what on earth gave you any inclination that I had any feelings other than contempt for him?"Sakura looked inquisitively at the blonde when he blushed and stared down at the floor, fidgeting with his fingers nervously. He licked his lips and raised his head, but he still did not look Sakura in the eyes. He looked a little further over to the side. His face was now mostly red.

"Um…w-well, a few hours ago, uh, Sasori-san, Kisame-san and I were in the kitchen, yeah, and, well…"

Sakura nodded her head, motioning him to continue.

"And, well…it's just, we were drinking tea, you know, and, well, we kind of…heard…"He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"We heard you scream Itachi's name from the kitchen and we knew there was only one thing that you could possibly be doing, yeah."

He spoke the last sentence rather fast, and it took Sakura a moment to think about what he had said. Her eyes widened, and she could feel the blood quickly rushing to her face, filling her cheeks.

"Deidara-san…you must understand, just because I slept with him does not mean I have feelings for him. It's just…I had no choice."

Deidara was pretty sure he knew what that meant, but he had to be sure, as he was not quick to assume.

"You mean, he…he raped you?"

Deidara's face fell as he ran to embrace the young kunoichi when she nodded her head and started to cry. He held her lovingly yet gently, and his touch spoke volumes. He would never let anything happen to her ever again, he told her, and she clutched his back in grief. She pulled slightly away from him, his arms still wrapped tenderly around her back. He looked down into her tear-stained face, but saw only beauty. _Some girls are amazingly breathtaking when they cry._ And he was extremely surprised—yet pleased—when she wove her small fingers through his hair and brought his face closer to hers, enveloping him in a wet and intense kiss, encouraging him once again. She led him to the bed, pulling off his cloak for a second time.

But this time, she knew _exactly _what she was doing.

Sakura pushed him down onto the side of the bed and straddled him, still kissing him while she hurriedly pulled his mesh over his head. When she had removed that, along with the tee-shirt, bra and shorts she was wearing, she nearly slammed him into the mattress in fervent passion.

"A little aggressive there, yeah," Deidara said with a smug grin on his face.

Restless and eager, Sakura replied with a phrase that surprised both of them entirely.

"Deidara…some like it rough."

And with that she playfully nipped at his ear and kissed her way down his jaw line, connecting with his mouth again. She made small circles with her fingers dangerously low under Deidara's navel, seeing how long he could go without snapping, deciding to play a little game.

Sakura started kissing Deidara's neck, sometimes biting, just to goad him into losing her little one-sided game His hands ran everywhere along her back and sides, sometimes making her giggle. Deidara pulled her in closer when he felt her warm breath on his skin, but he resisted the urge take her right then and there, knowing now what she was trying to do. So he decided to play along, pushing her over on her back before she could go any further. He put his legs in between hers and spread them wide apart. One of his hands held Sakura's over her head while the other ran along the side of her face, down her neck and onto her stomach. He stopped it there and brought his mouth down to the same spot, trailing down to the line of her underwear. He left light, butterfly kisses in his wake. When his lips reached her panty line they stopped, but only for a second. He took a small amount of her thong in between his front teeth and pulled it down in one agonizingly slow motion. Sakura was now unclothed completely, and he framed the sight in his mental gallery of unappreciated but beautiful art. But his gaze did not go unnoticed; Sakura touched his cheek lightly and brought his face back up to hers once more, and they engaged in a battle of tongues yet again.

Deidara knew that now was a better time than ever, so he loosened the cloth that was wrapped tightly around his waist to remove his pants. When he did, Sakura knew, because she felt something hard graze her inner thigh. She moaned at the accidental touch, and Deidara inwardly grinned, wondering what other sounds he could cause her to make. He decided that he should find out.

He entered her slowly, letting her adjust to him. When he knew she was alright he continued, but he was still playing _his _game, so he kept his present pace. He could feel her tighten, driving him mad with lust, but he was determined to win, so he only sped up a little. She dug her nails into his back, silently pleading for him to go faster. But he did not, and her groans were becoming longer and more agonized, telling Deidara that he was well ahead. _I win when she screams. _

So he sped up bit by bit, with full knowledge that, to Sakura, it was excruciating. She clawed away at his shoulder blades, causing him to inhale sharply. But the pain went away quickly, and he found that she was on the verge of letting out a cry of ecstasy. So he gave in, resigning to the fact that "the verge" was good enough. As soon as he stopped holding back, Sakura let out a pleasured scream.

_Well, looks like I won anyway._

Deidara worked his hand under Sakura's back, wanting her as close to him as humanly possible. He never wanted to let her go. Not even if it meant dying at the hands of Itachi; he loved her, he knew it, and so he would do anything it took to make her his completely.

The two were reaching their limits, and they both knew it. So with one last thrust, Deidara and Sakura let out pleasured moans, aware of nothing but the sound of each other's ragged breathing.

And they were especially unaware of the dark figure waiting outside of their door, leaning against the wall, who had heard everything that had occurred since the girl entered the room.

Sakura brushed her hair, fixed her makeup, and kissed Deidara goodbye before sneaking silently out of the room. It was about dinner time; she had no doubt that Itachi would be in the kitchen eating. So she decided to go straight to their room to change clothes and shower. She smelled like sex and sweat.

She successfully made it to her room, and was about to walk through the door that she had slid open when an immense force slammed her into the floor, and she was sure that she had broken something from the fall. She let out an alarmed gasp, and cursed angrily when she was slapped hard across the face. She fell silent as she looked up into the eyes of her attacker.

A bloody red, with a shuriken shaped symbol gracing the center. They could only belong to one person here.

"Why were you in Deidara's room, love? Did you forget something?"

Sakura winced at his mocking yet knowing tone. But she stopped breathing completely when she registered what he had actually said. Her eyes widened with fear and realization. He must have been listening through the door, having followed her there and beaten her back. And now he was smothering her, pressing her hard into the cold floor.

She knew that lying would be impossible, as he had activated his mangekou sharingan. And if he had indeed been listening, as his tone conveyed and her thoughts relayed, then she knew that a lie would mean certain death.

"Why are you asking, _Uchiha_-_san_? You know exactly why I was there."

Itachi's breathing slowed and his sharingan deactivated. He only looked her deep in the eyes and said something that would haunt Sakura forever.

"You are just like me. In almost every way. You pretend, you lie, you betray. Deception is your code of survival, like any worthy shinobi. But what surely bonds us is that we have both betrayed one person, the _same_ person, who meant very much to us. One who has devoted his entire life to kill me and will likewise hate you when he discovers that you have become the Akatsuki's _whore._"

And with that, Itachi quickly stood and left, as if anything in the world would make him happier than being in a room with her.

Sakura lay stunned on the floor where Itachi had left her. His words were eating her up inside, taking their time on every little aspect of her mind. They would attack from different sides occasionally, killing her slowly with diverse approaches. Tears welled up and streamed out of her eyes without her even thinking. Nobody in the world would be able to help her, save her, after what he had said.

So her body acted of its own accord, standing up and walking out of the room without really consulting the mind first. But her semi-consciousness returned when she found herself turning into the kitchen, and she stopped dead right outside. She sensed three in the room, but she could not tell who was who. Their chakras were all very high. So she listened, matching the voices and discerning the people.

"Soooo, Deidara…what've you been up to today, huh? Noticed that little pinkie was gone too. You don't happen to know where she's been, _do you??_"

Definitely Kisame.

"Kisame-san, why the hell would I know where she is? After all, she lives with Itachi, yeah."

"_Hmm…you sure about that_?" Kisame asked.

Deidara sounded flustered when he answered.

"O-of course, yeah. She's not my problem to deal with. She belongs to Itachi, yeah."

"Whatever."

"Kisame-san, Deidara, I don't believe that we should speak about Sakura-san as if she were a possession. She is a human being, you know, just like us."

Sakura verified the third person in the room as Sasori. She felt a wave of compassion for the small man; he was quite understanding and kind.

But she suddenly felt a hand cover her mouth as a voice in her ear whispered, "Having fun listening to them talk about you, love?"

Sakura was pushed hard into the wall, all of her sounds of resistance completely muffled by Itachi's hand. She struggled to get away, but he pressed his entire body against her, almost suffocating her.

"Whisper like a good girl and I'll let you breathe."

So she nodded her head quickly and he pulled his hand off of her mouth. She inhaled sharply, careful not to make any noise. He brought his face close to her ear, whispering quite faintly. He spoke slowly.

"I want you to tell me what you were doing standing out here for no reason when you could have entered without a problem. I think it's a little odd, don't you?"

Sakura wanted to retort, but she decided not to test him right now.

"I was only trying to see who was in there," she whispered.

Itachi read between the lines with ease, picking up on the hidden meaning instantly.

"Well I'm obviously not. So then why did you remain outside?"

Sakura didn't have an answer, so she remained silent. So Itachi did too, deciding to use _other _methods to draw his conclusions. He unzipped the hooded jacked she was wearing and ran his hand up her shirt, tracing odd shapes at random on her stomach. When she remained silent he ripped the shirt and jacket off completely, leaving her in nothing but a bra and his old sweatpants. But Sakura did not say anything. She had nothing _to_ say. She had just finished discerning the voices in the kitchen when he had shown up. So she only put her hands on his wrists, trying silently but frantically to stop his advances. When this did not work, she tried pleading.

"Itachi, I did not know why I did not enter the kitchen, I was not done matching voices to faces…"

But this was not good enough for him, even though he knew it was true. He brought his hand around to her back, unsnapping her bra and sliding it off slowly. Sakura whimpered, but tried to remain as quiet as possible. She softly begged him to stop, that they were not in the privacy of a room, that anyone could walk by and see her. But he seemed content with that fact, and only continued slowly.

"Don't worry, love. Two out of four of them have seen you, have had you. Why are you worrying? Don't you want to be able to say that you fucked four Akatsuki members in one go?"

Anger flared up everywhere inside of Sakura, making her breathing heavier and her eyes brighter.

"So that is what this is about? Are you still trying to get back at me for sleeping with Deidara? Wasn't what you said before—"

But Itachi cut her off there, pushing her to the ground after hearing her words. It seemed that her actually voicing what she had done had more affect on him than implying it. That gave her an idea.

"Are you afraid that you didn't measure up? Afraid that I liked him better? Or are you just angry that I didn't think you were enough so I went out for more?"

Itachi's breathing quickened at her taunting, but that was all. _Dammit. I should have known. Uchihas never let their feelings get the better of them. _But it turned out that Sakura's idea did not have to work; the voices in the kitchen stopped, and she heard the sound of feet making their way quickly to the hall. Sakura expected Itachi to disappear, leaving her completely topless on the floor, but he did not; on the contrary: he slowly brought his face down to her neck, kissing and biting, causing her to gasp. She certainly did not see that coming.

Sakura watched as Kisame, Deidara and Sasori poked their heads out of the doorway and beheld the sight before them. Kisame looked first at Sakura and smiled wickedly, raising his eyebrows. Then he looked at Itachi, still grinning, nodding his head in approval.

She saw Sasori do nothing, as usual; but then she caught a small expression on the man's face. He furrowed his brow in complete contrast to Kisame, looking repulsed by the entire situation.

Sakura did not look at Deidara. She did not want to see his face react to this, to her being violated like this. She decided that it was better this way, better if she did not put him in danger by continuing their affair. So she did something that completely broke her heart.

Sakura slowly snaked her arms around Itachi's neck as she brought one leg up, and she winked at Kisame playfully before she loosened the tie that held back Itachi's hair. It fell around her face entirely, blocking Kisame from view. She giggled as Itachi ran his hand down her bent leg, but inside she felt as if she would never truly laugh again. Deidara was the second love she had lost in four years; she knew now that she would not leave the compound in search for Sasuke, but she would stay here and learn to tolerate Itachi, just to prevent her heart from dying again. And she knew that she would never be the same when Itachi whispered faintly in her ear.

"Good girl…"

The next thing she knew, Sakura heard the pounding of fists in the kitchen, the harsh sound of soft swearing drifting through the hallway. She saw a shadow move hastily in the opposite direction, down the other corridor. She felt Itachi stop kissing her neck, and saw as he looked up and slightly back, in the direction of the shadow. And as he looked up, her line of vision returned. Her heart shattered completely as she caught a quick glimpse of blonde disappearing around a turn.

She heard Itachi let out a small laugh of triumph and satisfaction, and he got up and disappeared, leaving her lying there in only her sweatpants as she predicted he would sometime. She frantically sat up and covered her chest with her arm, searching for her clothes. But she let out a small scream of contempt and frustration as she realized that the sadistic bastard had taken her upper clothing with him. She started to cry, letting out all of her pent up emotions. She felt a gentle arm wrap itself around her back and under her knees, and she glanced up to see Sasori, a look of concern and sympathy etched into his features. He picked her up "bridal-style" and carried her so that her chest faced him, hiding her shame from the much less mature populace of the hall.

Sakura buried her face in his shoulder and cried, noting his very clean smell. She knew when they had arrived in his room, because he set her down on the bed. She immediately covered herself and huddled in the corner, afraid that he would take advantage of her weakness.

But he merely sat down on the edge and put his hand on her shoulder, offering very consoling words.

"Sakura-san, do not worry. I would never, ever hurt you. Please, feel free to think of me as a brother figure. After all, we are not all like Itachi."

Sakura slowly looked up, still covering herself. She was still crying quietly.

She nodded, and Sasori stood up, searching his drawers for a shirt that he thought would suit the poor girl. He pulled out a small white one with irrelevant writing on it, and he placed it on the bed next to her. Then he left to let her change.

When she had put on the shirt, Sakura located the door to the bathroom and washed the salty tears off her face. She then turned the sink off, walking out of the bathroom and through the bedroom, sliding the door open only to find Sasori waiting for her right outside.

"Sakura-san, are you feeling better?"

"Very much. Thank you."

The redhead gave Sakura a small smile, then walked back towards the kitchen, indicating for her to follow. She padded down the hallway after him, and then took her seat at the table when the arrived at the small kitchen. She saw that Kisame was there, looking at a magazine; but she blushed and averted her eyes when she saw him thrust it under the table and out of sight quickly, giving her more than a hint as to what it was.

When she sat, Kisame cleared his throat and hurriedly started conversation.

"Sakura-blossom, are you okay? You've seemed a little…out of sorts lately. I mean, of course, I know it has to do with Itachi"—a wide grin played across his face—"but what exactly happened? I mean, Deidara's been a little loopy too."

Sakura did not particularly want to discuss such a personal matter with someone who called her something as stupid as "Sakura-blossom", but it seemed that this was as good as it was gonna get, so she went with it.

"I was kidnapped by you all, as you well know. When I could not give him the answers he wanted, Itachi decided that would force them out of me by threatening me with rape. You know that I told him that I would never stay here with him and that, because of what Deidara told me afterwards, I had my panic attack.

Apparently, while I was out, Deidara took me to Itachi's room and helped me recover there. As it turned out, I somehow mistook him for Sasuke in my state of delirium and started kissing him. And to make the situation look worse, I was only wearing some cheap underwear I had found in Kisame's room because Deidara had kindly rid me of my vomit-covered clothes before I had even woken up. He had also covered me with his cloak, leaving him in only his shinobi pants."

Kisame blushed and quickly told Sasori that it was for women and not him, but Sasori only raised his eyebrows and told Sakura to continue.

"Anyway, while I was kissing Deidara—who I thought was Sasuke—Itachi walked in and turned on the light. When he saw Deidara and I kissing on _his _bed, scantily clad, he just stared at us. And then when I looked up and saw Deidara I kind of screamed, and I think it scared him because he fell off the bed. None the less he grabbed his cloak, decided that I needed it more, handed it back and left as quickly as possible. It's surprising that he's still alive.

And so after Deidara left Itachi finally snapped, and he pseudo-raped me. I say pseudo because I did not resist physically, because I wanted to get back on his good side. But I didn't want to, and it was torture the whole time. Only hours after Itachi and I…you know…Deidara called me to his room. He asked me if I had feelings for Itachi, and I told him I didn't, even though I didn't know what I was feeling right then. But I became sure of myself when he put his hands on my shoulder. Him touching me just felt so right…nothing at all like Itachi or Sasuke's touch. It was warm and caring, you know?"

Sakura looked at the two men before her and noticed that they were giving her quite incredulous looks that seemed to convey a _no, we don't know, so please, for the love of God, continue. _So Sakura cleared her throat and went on.

"Anyway, I kind of lost myself. I was so mad at Itachi, and I wanted to make him even madder. And Deidara wasn't doing anything to help my raging hormones; actually, he was completely contradictory of what my heart was telling me to do. He was incredibly unaware that he was egging me on. At any rate, we ended up having sex—oh, grow up sharkboy—, but it turns out that Itachi was listening to everything that we were doing. He ended up getting extremely mad again, but this time he didn't think rape would punish me enough. So he taunted me and said the one thing he knew would kill me, and for a while, it did, but I knew I had to shake it off, so I came down to dinner.

But before I came in I wanted to make sure that Itachi and Deidara weren't in the same room, so I stood outside and tried to tell you apart by your chakras. But they're all about the same, and it was too hard to discern you that way. So I stood outside and listened to the voices.

Once I figured out that Itachi wasn't in there with Deidara too, I started to walk in, but I was stopped by an unknown assailant, who turned to be Itachi, of course, asking me why I was standing outside of the kitchen, cautiously listening to you all speak, when there was no danger in entering the room in the first place. I told him that I was just trying to hear who was in there, but he didn't care and pushed me onto the floor. You saw the rest. And just to clear things up, I didn't really want him kissing me in front of you all, especially not Deidara. But I had no choice but to act like I was enjoying myself. I didn't want him to get hurt because of the way we felt about each other. And now here I am, trying to explain my innermost feelings to you two."

"Well, blossom. You must be quite talented."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying that it takes quite the skill to get it onwith two Akatsuki in one day."

Sakura just sat, glaring at Kisame for his vulgar comment. But he spoke again after a moment, making her even more uncomfortable.

"…Wanna make it three?"The next thing they knew, Kisame was slumping out of the kitchen, rubbing his head where Sakura's fist had left a large welt.


	6. Cherry Blossom Lament

Ch. 5

Cherry Blossom Lament

_"You can't help me,_

_I'm so frightened._

_You can't help me,_

_I'm so tired._

_But in my dreams…_

_The wolves tear out my heart."_

_-A Vampire's Lament,__ Atreyu _

"Hokage-sama, we have intercepted an enemy shinobi wearing the attire that matches that of an Akatsuki. We think he has some interesting things to tell us about the location of the Konoha missing-nin Haruno Sakura."

The fifth hokage of Konohagakure village nearly flipped her desk over and sent her chair out of the window with the amount of chakra she sent out when she stood, a fire in her eyes as she looked intensely at the scout.

"What did you say? Shit…Akatsuki…? Send out the Seven immediately. As in _now, this very second! _Give them the information that you get from the prisoner and send them out stat! Understand?"

The scout turned and fled the room as fast as he possibly could, knowing that failure this time might mean death. So he went to summon the team of Konoha's seven most elite ninja, wondering why this girl was so important to the village's leader.

Meanwhile, Tsunade stood looking out her window, staring up at the moon.

"Sakura…if they have you, please, hold on…we will help you kill _him _and retrieve Sasuke…so please, just hold on…"

Sakura sat in silence with Sasori, uncomfortable under his penetrating gaze. She was quite aware that he was staring at her; but she chose to ignore it and looked elsewhere.

She decided to make conversation, trying to alleviate the ominous silence bearing down on them.

"Sasori-san, would you like me to get you anything?"Sasori just stared, acting as if Sakura had said nothing.

"Maybe some tea or soup?"

Still nothing.

"Sasori-san?"The man's silence was now thoroughly irritating. Sakura was getting frustrated with him for completely ignoring her. She stood, knocking her chair over as she did so. She slammed her hands down on the table, causing it to crack slightly under the pressure of her pent-up chakra. Leaning over the table so that her nose was almost touching Sasori's, Sakura stared angrily into his eyes and spoke.

"Sasori-san, I would like to thank you for helping me dress and clean up, but I'm afraid I cannot do that if you don't even give me the slightest inclination of how I should go about doing so. So, quite frankly, I would like to tell you that you are _really _pissing me off."

He still stared, which she found infuriating. But he stood after a moment, and put his hands on her shoulders, just as Deidara had done. But his touch was completely different. It was not caring, loving, or concerned. It was empty and cold, as if it longed for something that it could never, ever have.

"Sasori-san…what…?"Sakura looked into his eyes and saw that they were just as hollow and chilled as his touch. She felt a sudden and immense wave of pity for the small man, and she could only imagine what he must go through. She did not know what was wrong, but she knew that it ate him up inside constantly. She put her small hand up to his face, stroking the side of his cheek. She saw his eyes close and felt his jaw tighten, as if he were in unbearable emotional pain. Sakura climbed up onto the table, her knees touching his stomach as she slid up closer to him. Her hand felt wet suddenly, and she looked into his face yet again, only to see silent tears rolling down them and onto her delicate fingers. She couldn't take it anymore. He needed to be held, to know that somebody wanted him to exist. That he was not just a tool, and that he meant something to somebody.

So she threw her arms around his neck, her fingers twisting through his soft red hair. She pulled him into a tight embrace, herself crying a little as she did so. Sasori did not seem to want to return her contact, but after a few moments, Sakura felt him slowly wrap his arms around her midsection and pull her in closer.

Only seconds later, Sakura opened her eyes and looked up. Standing in front of her was the man she wanted to see the least, now or ever. Uchiha Itachi. _He must have masked his chakra. That's why Sasori hasn't noticed him yet…_

She was still wrapped around Sasori, who had buried his face in her shoulder. This put her in a very awkward position. She was holding one broken soul close while staring up at the face of a man who didn't even have a soul to break, and the only thing she could do to conserve the little dignity he hadn't taken away from her was stare at him with equal contempt.

But she felt as if that little dignity was scraped away when that man took her face in his hands and brought it up to his, smothering her in a quiet kiss. She could do nothing; she did not want Sasori to know that she was kissing Itachi and hugging him at the same time. But she did not want to kiss Itachi; she had never been in such a preposterous situation before. So she chose what her heart told her not to but her head said would be the most reasonable decision. She continued to kiss Itachi.

After what seemed like forever, Itachi pulled away from Sakura's face, smirking arrogantly. She glared at him as he brought his mouth down to her ear.

"Thanks love…see you tonight."And with that, he disappeared, which Sakura discovered he had gotten quite good at.

Not long after that, Sasori stepped back slightly, looking into Sakura's eyes. She repressed a moan of pity for him when she saw his tear-stained face and his eyes, still cold, yet not as empty.

"Sakura-san…you remind me of someone. Is it alright if we speak more often?"

Sakura found the question quite ridiculous. Of course he could talk to her more often As a matter of fact, if he did not she would take it quite offensively and scout him out, picking a fight.

So she settled for nodding her head in assent, giving him a small smile at the same time. The eyes of stone before her seemed to soften substantially, and she sighed, wanting only the best for the poor man facing her.

Sasori took her hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze as he left.

Sakura drank her tea that she had made for herself slowly, enjoying her final minutes of solitude. She looked to the hours ahead with nothing but dread; she did not want to go back to that room with that man.

She closed her eyes and took a shallow breath, taking her last sip of tea. She sat for a moment, taking in the empty kitchen for what seemed like no reason, and slowly stood to walk over to the sink. She placed her cup down on the side of the counter and thought of things from her past that brought a smile to her face, as well as tears to her eyes.

_--- --- ---_

_Sakura's breathing was shallow and inconsistent. She had been running for what seemed like hours, and her lack of sleep from previous nights were taking their toll. She had to keep him in sight or she would lose him forever._

_When he reached the edge of the village he stopped, causing her to stop suddenly as well. She clutched her hands to her chest and looked at his back desperately, wanting to go to him and hold him, and never let him leave. But she had to remain hidden, the only exception being his discovery of her himself. _

_"Sakura…"_

_She froze. _He knew. How long did he know…?_ She stepped closer, still a good 100 feet away. _

_"Why are you following me?"__She thought he was stupid for asking that question. He knew how she felt for him; henceforth, she followed him when he left. _

_"Sasuke…please, don't leave. Don't leave us!"__He still did not turn to face her. _

_"If you leave, I'll scream. Sasuke, please, there are other ways! I…I can help you, please…I'll go with you, anything, just please don't leave me."_

_Sakura was sobbing. She was desperate not to part from the boy she loved, but she knew that brute force alone would not stop him from leaving them all behind. She tried to sway him with touching words. _

_"Sasuke…I love you!"_

_Sasuke still did nothing. He did not move towards her, he did not move to leave, and he did not speak. And then he was gone. Sakura gasped, fumbling to the spot where he had just been like a child in the dark. Her sobbing was now uncontrollable; she repeatedly yelled no, thinking it would somehow cause him to materialize in her arms. She stood staring down at where Sasuke was just standing when she felt a gust of wind behind her, and her crying stopped. She stood still, staring straight ahead, watching the leaves rustle on their branches and drift down to the cold ground of Konoha village. _

_Her heart stopped when she heard him speak behind her. _

_"Sakura…thank you."_

_And with that, she grunted as a sharp pain shot through her back, and she knew no more._

_The next morning, Sakura found herself on a cold bench, her back and neck aching from sleeping on such a stiff surface. She sat up, and the memories of the night before came flooding back, causing her to scrunch into a ball. She sobbed uncontrollably yet again, wanting to die…she could do nothing…_

_But approaching footsteps drew her out of her thoughts, and she looked up from between the notch her knees made when she pulled them close. She saw Kakashi running towards her, a concerned look on his face. Or at least she thought it would be, if she could see his face. _

_He came and kneeled down next to her, frantically asking her what was wrong._

_"Sasuke…I wasn't good enough…I love him, and he only…said thank you…"_

_Kakashi inhaled sharply at her words. He motioned with his hand, indicating to a squad of shinobi to search the area around the village. _

_"Sakura, did he tell you where he was going?"_

_She shook her head. _

_"Did he say anything?"_

_"He only…said thank you…"_

_"Why, what was he thanking you for?"_

_"Sensei…he said thank you because…he couldn't say he loved me back…"_

_Kakashi felt a wave of pity for the small girl in front of him. He spoke softly as not to upset her further._

_"Sakura…you told him you loved him, didn't you?"_

_She nodded her head and her sobs were renewed. It killed Kakashi inside, but he had to know everything. _

_"And he didn't say he loved you, even though he knew he may never see you again…?"_

_She cried longer and louder than ever, calling out a pang of guilt in Kakashi. He was unbelievably angry at Sasuke…hurting this girl, the girl he _knew_ loved him, his teammate, his _friend_…_

_End flashback_

_--- --- --- _

Sakura smiled as she wiped a tear from her cheek. It bring her a smile only because it reminded her of a time when she was so fragile, a time when she was not consumed by hate, bloodlust and torment. Ever since she had turned fourteen her anguish had consumed her, eating away at her day by day, and she finally left her home, at the age of fifteen, to look for her love. She regretted not asking Naruto to come; but at the same time she was glad she didn't, as he probably would have succeeded in talking her out of it. But then again, if he did, then she wouldn't be here right now, a prisoner and plaything of the great Akatsuki four.

She wouldn't be walking down a dark hallway, dreading what would happen when she walked through the approaching door, wanting to turn and run, and never look back. And most of all, she wouldn't be placing her hand, which seemed to be thinking for itself, on the handle of the door, slowly sliding it back, holding her breath, her heart screaming out the one name it knew best:

_Please, help me, Sasuke…_


	7. The Only Family She's Ever Had

Ch. 6

The Only Family She'd Ever Had

The scout smiled at his small inner victory. He had succeeded in briefing and dispatching the Konoha elite immediately after interrogation the Akatsuki prisoner, a very large man that resembled a giant in many ways. He grimaced as he remembered the struggle that the prisoner had put up; he still had lacerations on his arms and legs from where a lethal string had grabbed him and cut him, the string seeming to appear directly from the man himself.

But he pushed that out of his mind, heading back towards the Hokage Tower.

The Konoha elite, he remembered, were the best of the best in any village he had heard of so far. They each had peculiar traits and extraordinary _Kekkei Genkai. _He shuddered at the thought of having to face any of the seven in battle; he would surely be killed immediately. He thought about each one of them, honored to live in the same place that they dwelled.

Uzumaki Naruto, container of the Kyuubi, and descendant of the Yondaime, the hero that had saved their village long ago. Of course, he was destined for greatness as well.

Yamanaka Ino, the beautiful woman that every man was after. Her elegant aura and beautiful flowing silver-blonde hair were assets that allowed her to easily seduce any enemy, making them extremely venerable for the kill.

Hyuuga Neji, personal bodyguard to his cousin, Hinata, who was the head of the clan. He was rookie of the year every year straight that he had _been _a rookie. Possibly one of the most promising young men in the village's history.

Rock Lee, the young man who had trained under Maito Guy personally. He was determined to win to a comedic point, but his confidence normally proved to be a useful quality in a fight.

Nara Shikamaru, one of the first chosen by the Godaime Tsunade to become a ninja under her personal order. He was amazing analytically, making him an irreplaceable asset in the midst of battle.

The last member of the team was the fairly new addition to Konoha, Sai. He had taken the missing Uchiha's place on Uzumaki's team. The scout had a very good feeling that this mission would be very personal for Uzumaki and Sai. The missing-nin they were trying to find had been their former teammate.

And finally, the leader of the Konoha Elite Seven, Hatake Kakashi. The mission would probably mean very much to him as well; the girl was his former student and subordinate. He had treated her like his daughter.

The scout just hoped that the last three would be able to push their personal desire to save the girl aside when it came to the field. A shinobi was not meant for emotional purposes; if they did not remember that, their team was as good as dead, then they could call the mission a failure right now.

Sakura entered the room, inhaling deeply. She stepped into the dark space, feeling cold and alone. The only light came from the tiny crack in the bathroom door, and the only noise was the steady drum of the shower running. She was wearing a zip-up hoodie, a white tee-shirt with irrelevant writing on the front and black sweatpants to match the sweatshirt; the clothes that Sasori had lent her. She slowly peeled the jacket off, knowing that it was the first of four more articles of clothing left to go.

Sakura gradually made her way over to the bathroom door. She slid it open, stepping into the steamy room, her eyes watering from the heat. Her sweatpants immediately felt sticky, and her tee shirt became saturated with the moisture in the air. She walked over to the small shower and leaned her shoulder against the wall, making sure that Itachi would be able to hear her when she spoke.

"Itachi-san…when you are finished, I will be in the bedroom."

Her voice was hollow and monotonous. She found it hard to say that at all, much less with feeling.

She turned and began to walk out of the bathroom when she heard the water turn off suddenly, the harsh scraping of the shower curtain being yanked back ringing in her ears. She turned to look at the emerging body, who had hurriedly wrapped a towel around their waist right before she turned around.

"…What the hell?"

The voice came from the wet figure of a large man she had never seen before, none the less as handsome as the others she was staying with. But these few things had not registered yet, and Sakura opened her mouth to let out an ear-piercing shriek at the intruder.

But the man, made of almost all muscle, was at her in an instant, pinning her against the wall and covering her mouth with his wet hand. So her cry was reduced a muffled resonance, causing her to claw at his arm violently until he managed to let go.

"God, could Itachi pick bitchier women? Holy hell…"

He rubbed his forearm where she had cut it up with her nails, glaring at her all the time.

Sakura examined the unknown man and saw that he too wore an Akatsuki ring, meaning that he was just another component in the terrible group. With further investigation, she saw that his hair, white-blonde and slick, naturally ran down his head, and she imagined that he must look something like a vampire when he put on the black and red cloak.

His body was finely toned, and she reminded him of a male version of Ino. His hair, only a little lighter, was the same texture as hers, and his eyes were just as peculiar a color as hers. His skin was fair, also matching Ino's.

She decided to find out who this man was. She tried to maintain a cool and indifferent demeanor, but it was fairly difficult when a man so much bigger than she was glaring at her while dripping wet in a towel.

"And just who are you, intruding upon Itachi-san?"

Not that she really cared if Itachi_-san _was intruded upon, but she had to have some excuse for marching into the elder Uchiha's bathroom. So she decided that sounding official and important was the best way.

"Watch it, sweetheart. I think I should be asking you that first. You tore my fucking arm off, for god's sake."

She glared at him, returning the fierce stare that she herself was receiving.

"I'm only here because Itachi-san brought me here. Good enough?"The man shook his head.

"Babe, if you want me to let you go alive, you're gonna have to tell me a hell of a lot more than that."

Sakura let out an impatient sigh. Nonetheless, she told him everything she thought he wanted to know.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I am from Konohagakure and was on a mission to retrieve one of our missing-nin when Uchiha and his little group grabbed me and dumped me down here like some bundle of laundry. They're using me to find the same man I myself was looking for, the little brother, Uchiha Sasuke. Not to mention being their plaything", she mumbled under her breath.

But it was not unnoticed, to Sakura's dismay. A wide grin spread across the man's face, and he raised an inquisitive yet suggestive eyebrow. She only glared harder.

"Well, well, what an interesting choice. The weasel normally doesn't keep 'em this long, especially if they're so fiery." He stepped forward, but Sakura held her ground, trusting they would not be alone for much longer. She could sense an immense chakra coming in fast.

"Hidan."

The vampire-man jumped, turning towards the doorway, only to be met with cold eyes that displayed nothing but disdain.

But the nervous manner that the man called Hidan had adapted for a second went away just as quickly as it had come, and the lazy grin splayed across his face once again after an instant more.

"Long time no see, Itachi. I see you got yourself a cute little kitten here…mind if I borrow her sometime?"Sakura had had enough. She took the man Hidan completely off guard and slammed _him _up against the wall, cutting off his air.

"You vulgar freak, I'm not some possession to be passed around. I belong to one person here, the one who took me himself. I may not be happy about it in the least, but it's better than being handed over to _you_."

Sakura felt herself being pulled off as Hidan fervently nodded his head, scrambling for air. She turned to see Itachi, grasping the neck of her shirt, violently yanking her away from the suffocating Akatsuki.

"Hidan. Enough. You are not to come in here again; I'm sure Deidara will welcome you. We will speak later."

Itachi had a sharp edge to his voice that hurried even the cool Hidan along.

When they were alone, Sakura found herself up against a wall yet again, staring into black eyes as dark as the soul they accompanied.

"What exactly was going on before I came in, love…?"

Sakura just stared back, but decided to answer as he pushed his entire body onto hers, squishing her unbearably.

"I came in because I thought you were in the shower. I told him, thinking it was you, that I would be in the bedroom, and he turned the water off and got out almost immediately after. I used your name, though. I guess he was just curious."

But this apparently did not suit the elder Uchiha before her.

"Nothing happened, you know….sexually. He just asked me who I was and why I was here. That's all. I must admit, though. He is _so_ polite. Quite the ladies man, I'm sure."

Itachi let Sakura go, stepping back from the wall about a foot. She could've sworn that she had seen a flicker of a smile flashacross his face at her comment, but she was sure she imagined it, because when she blinked, it was gone.

"You'd actually be surprised," he said.With that, Itachi left the bathroom, and Sakura leaned back against the wall, shocked at how Itachi did not try to put her down or anger her before he left.

She suddenly felt the strong pressure in her bladder, telling her that she needed to use the restroom. She closed the door and relieved herself. As she did so, her face turned white, and she started breathing quickly. Panicking, she pulled her pants back up and decided to dismiss what she had realized. She didn't want to think it was true, not yet. It was too early to assume. She listened as he slid his cloak and mesh off, and made her way out of the bathroom, turning out the light as she left.

She stumbled over Itachi's shoes as she was consumed by darkness. But before she could hit the ground, she felt strong arms wrap around her torso, pulling her up. She also felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace from behind, her breath catching in the back of her throat. His scent, his body, his touch…they were all the same as _his_. For a moment, she closed her eyes and imagined that it was Sasuke embracing her once again, just as he had done that night. She began to cry for what seemed like the millionth time since she had arrived here. The arms moved around to her shoulders, gently massaging her neck as she wept.

Her crying increased at the soft words spoken next.

"Ah…I see now. You loved him."

Sakura pulled away from the man behind her, her knees hitting the floor with a thud. She buried her face in her hands and bent over, her arms parallel to her thighs. She could feel herself shaking violently, tasting the tears flow into her mouth. She heard another pair of knees softly touch down next to her, and warm hand caressed her back.

She brought her hand up to meet his, covering it. This spoke so much more than words. It was her way of saying that she has given up. She was telling him with that one touch that she was okay.

So Sakura proceeded to wipe her tears and sit up. She then moved to push him down softly and let her eyes adjust to the dark. But right as she touched his shoulders, she felt herself being picked up, so she went with it.

She was put down gently on the bed. She could see now; as a shinobi, her eyes were accustomed to warming up to the dark fairly easily. She could see as easily now as she could in the daytime.

Itachi slowly climbed on top of the bed as well. His hands were on either side of her face, while his legs were working their way in between hers, pushing them apart with ease. He brought his face down to hers, gently brushing her lips with hisown. He licked her lips lightly, barely tickling them with the tip of his tongue. After a moment, he slid his tongue into her willing mouth, bringing his lips down on hers at the same time. He sucked on her tongue gently, savoring the sweet flavor that came with it.

Sakura moaned softly when his mouth covered hers. She closed her eyes and kissed him back passionately. She finally let go. She let go of all her hate, all her lust for revenge, all her emptiness; she let go of her bonds to her village, her bond as a student to the Godaime, her ties to all at Konoha; she let go of her rank as an ANBU captain she had achieved before she left; but most of all, she let go of her unrequited love, her love for the brother of the man on top of her. The brother of the man she had been raped by was not the man she had loved all along.

She felt Itachi slide a hand under her back, pulling her up into him. But it seemed that this had an ulterior motive; he was now sliding her shirt off, breaking their kiss momentarily to pull it up over her head. He lay her back down, now kissing her neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck, thinking that this was ironically like the position she was in only a day ago. But it was also much different now; Sakura was ready and willing to love this man.

She pulled Itachi's shirt up as well, tossing it into a corner, where it was long forgotten. She ran her fingers over the scars on his back, tracing them lightly with her fingertips. She also ran her hands along the ridges of his muscular shoulders and upper back, then back down again, brushing her fingers lightly over his spine. She felt Itachi yet again slide his hand under her back, unsnapping her bra this time. She removed her hands from his back, allowing him to slide it off of her shoulders and discard it in the same corner with the rest of their clothes.

The only thing that now separated the two was their pants. Sakura had been smart this time and chose not to wear underwear, finding it only to be a hinderance to her lovers.

So she guided his hand down to her hip, implying that he should pull her sweatpants down. Itachi complied; he wormed a finger under the waistline of the pants, dragging them down at an agonizingly slow pace.

Itachi raised his brows in mild surprise, seeing that Sakura had tactfully chosen not to wear underwear. So now this left only his pants. But he decided not to rid himself of them just yet. Instead, he ran his fingers all the way down her stomach and down to the crevice between her legs. He tickled the inside of her thighs with his fingertips, making her giggle softly. He smiled at the sound; it had to be the nicest sound he had heard in a very, very long time.

Choosing not to mildly torture her any longer, Itachi slowly inserted two of his fingers into her, meriting a blissful gasp from the pink-haired kunoichi under him. He slid his fingers in and out of her core, hearing her groan in satisfaction, causing him to become quite hard.

After a minute or two, Itachi felt a burst of warm, thick liquid pour out of Sakura, covering his hand. He licked his fingers that he had just pulled out of her, tasting her saccharine juice on his hand.

Sakura noticed, while running her hands all over his body, the large bulge that had accumulated throughout their foreplay. She smiled and pushed him off of her and onto his back, taking her sweet time in loosening the wrap that held his pants up. When she had untied it completely, she yanked it out from under him in one elegant motion. She fiddled with the waistline of his pants, kissing his neck while she did so. When she felt that she had beleaguered the man under her long enough, she slowly pulled his shinobi pants down, yet again adding another garment to their collection in the corner.

They were both completely naked now. Sakura decided to experiment, placing her hand on the base of his hard member. This caused Itachi to shudder, and Sakura grinned inwardly. _That's__ not all I can do…_

She began to slowly run her hand up and down the hard shaft, and sped up, smiling outwardly this time when Itachi let out a pleasured moan. But he cut her fun short when he turned her harshly over onto her back yet again, and she saw that his eyes were hazed with lust. He pulled her up into his chest, kissing her neck and collarbone intensely. But he set her down again soon, placing himself at her entrance. She half-closed her eyes and grinned smugly, trigging Itachi to decide that he could no longer hold back.

He pushed into her aggressively, causing her to moan loudly and in sudden surprise. He continued this way, only getting faster. Sakura was breathing heavily, and she was now groaning quite loudly. She ran her fingers up his back and wove them through his long dark hair, trying not to scream.

"Sakura…please, scream for me…"

Sakura did not. She wanted to see how long she could make him beg.

"Sakura…please…"She could not hold out much longer. His pleas sounded frantic and anxious.

"_Sakura, god…"_He drove in and out of her intensely.

"God, Itachi…deeper…"

Itachi let out a loud moan, not able to repress it any longer. He held nothing back; he slammed into her in an almost animalistic way, causing her to finally scream in ecstasy.

"_Oh, Itachi!"_

He had reached his limit, and so had Sakura. He finally pulled out of her, causing her to groan at the top of her voice. He fell on top of her, and she held him close, welcoming his warm body on her own. Their ragged breathing was the only noise that now filled the room. And there they lay, both falling asleep right after the other.

_A few hours earlier…_

_--- --- --- _

Deidara, Hidan and Kisame were all huddled around the windowless door that let to their mysterious comrade's room.

The room that was currently being shared.

"Hey, Deidara, can you hear anything?"

Hidan and Kisame were frantically whispering to the other man, who had his ear pressed intently against the door. The blond man tried to shoo them away, his face set in the most intense concentration.

He licked his lips and said, "Not with you idiots being so loud I can't, yeah. Shut up."

The other members nodded their heads and pressed their own ears against the door in the same fashion. Deidara lifted his face momentarily to scowl at the two other men who had now invaded his bubble. After quickly re-pressing the side of his face against the papery material, he tried to listen to what was going on on the other side.

But his fears were confirmed when he heard a muffled moan drift through the thin door. They had heard no struggle, and now he knew that the woman he loved turned from him and devoted herself to Itachi. He slowly backed away and left the hallway, leaving the other two to their business.

He made his way down to the kitchen, where he knew his dedicated partner and best friend was waiting for the damage report he knew would come.

When entered, he plopped down in the seat across from Sasori. He dare not make eye contact with the man; he knew it would just upset him more. The redhead had given him a stern lecture beforehand, telling him that the choice was Sakura's, and that she would do what she thought was best for herself and for anyone else she was taking into consideration. But Deidara had not listened, and had told him that he didn't know anything about love. It was the first fight they had had over anything but art in a long time. He didn't like it.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the look on your face tells me that I was right."

Deidara stuck his lip out at the man before him. He knew it was childish, but it was all he could think of. His heart had been torn apart. He wasn't in the mood for "_I told you so_"s right now.

"Deidara…I can't tell you how foolish you were. You fell in love with something that Itachi had already claimed as his own. In that case, _especially _that case, you should know better than to try and obtain it for yourself. I can't believe—"

Deidara stood quickly, having just sat down, and angrily pounded his fist on the table.

"Just shut up! You know nothing about Sakura-san, yeah. That Uchiha raped her the first night she was even here! You call that _claiming _her? I don't. I think she should get a bit of a say in it, yeah."

But before he could continue, Hidan and Kisame entered the room, their eyes as large as dinner plates. They had satisfied grins spread wide across their faces.

"Well if you ask me, I didn't know Itachi had it in him. That was one crazy session, that was."

Deidara glared at Kisame, but the bigger man didn't notice.

"All I have to say is, I wanna get my hands on that hellcat. She fucks like an _animal, _man."This time Deidara just pushed past the two men, storming out of the room. Hidan and Kisame stumbled as he made his way violently through them. They

then chose their places at the table, glaring at the doorway as they sat.

"Jesus, what's his problem? I never did nothin' to him. Hell, I just got here."

Kisame nodded his head in fervent agreement. Sasori closed his eyes and sighed.

"Hey, what're you sighin' for, shortie?"

Sasori cut his eyes at the crude silver haired man across from him, causing Hidan to shudder.

"You are quite insensitive, Hidan. Deidara loves that girl, you know."

Hidan and Kisame blinked. Then they burst out in laughter, each spurting incoherent sentences of condemnation and ridicule simultaneously.

Sasori decided to approach with a different tactic.

"And you really should be respecting him. Especially you, Hidan. You said that all you wanted was to get her alone…?" The burly man nodded his head, a blatant _Well duh, who wouldn't _expression on his face.

Sasori let out a small laugh of triumph.

"Well my friend, Deidara has _already _done exactly that. Looks like he beat you to it, hm?"

Sasori watched his victory play out slowly. A stupid grin spread across Kisame's face, while Hidan just sputtered in disbelief. And with that, the small man rose calmly and walked out of the room.


	8. Our Love Will Never Fade

Ch. 7

Our Love Will Never Fade

__

As dawn broke on the Akatsuki compound, a pair of sleepy eyes slowly cracked open to face the day. The dim light from closed shutters shone into the room, forming streaks of light across the tired face of a young kunoichi. She then proceeded to pull herself out of bed and sit on the edge, placing her head in her hands. The girl gave a shuddering sigh and trudged over to the window, slowly flipping the shutters open. As the weak dawn light poured into the room, she heard a husky grunt of disapproval coming from the bed from where she had just risen. She smiled, the memories of the night before flooding back to her in a rush of awareness.

Pulling on a large tee-shirt she picked up off the floor, she slowly padded over to the small bed. She climbed onto the tall mattress, worming her way under the covers once again.

She sighed, feeling the warm figure next to her pull her into his body. She turned and kissed him, never wanting to leave his side. She ran her fingers through his hair, but stopped abruptly when she felt it end about a foot too soon. _Something's not right…_

She sat up and yanked the covers off of the bed.

"What the hell…? God, you don't have to be so fucking _violent…_"

And then she screamed.

Deidara, Sasori and Kisame heard the piercing shriek that had come from the room at the end of the hall. They all yanked their pants up over their boxers and, kunai in hand, ran quickly down to Itachi's room.

And, suddenly, they were all thrown backward by a massive shattering of the stone wall on their left. A body flew past them and slammed into the wall on their right, cracking it a little. They all jumped back up, first turning to look at the body, which they saw was Hidan's, and then to the wall that had burst open only a few moments before.

They sighed in relief when they saw the tense body of a young pink-haired girl emerge from the gaping hole in the rock. She had a large shirt on, which covered her private areas conveniently. She marched over to Hidan, her cheeks flushed and her eyes mad with rage.

"What the _hell _were you doing in my bed?! Last time I checked it was _Itachi's_ arms I was falling asleep in, not _yours, _you dirty, scum-filled, filthy motherfu—"

Sasori cleared his throat quite loudly, preventing her from going any further. The young girl turned her head and blinked, noticing the three shinobi for the first time.

Kisame ran over to her, brushing the rubble and dust off of her shoulders. Sasori asked her politely if she was alright, and she told him that she would have been better if Hidan had not appeared, using very colorful language throughout her response.

But Deidara did not involve himself with the young kunoichi. Instead, he walked over, picked Hidan up by the throat, and held a kunai to his chest.

"Why the hell were you in Sakura-san's room, yeah? Decide to pay her a little visit?"

Hidan struggled, telling Deidara to get off. After a few minutes, Sasori came over, tapping Deidara's arm lightly. The blond man grudgingly removed his hand from the taller man's throat, who in turn rubbed his neck where the hand had throttled it. He glared at Deidara, and then turned to Sasori.

"She just made a big deal of nothing. It's not a problem."

Sasori narrowed his eyes, apparent doubt written in his features.

"The _whole _story, please, Hidan…?"

The burly man sighed.

"Okay, fine. Itachi came out of his room about an hour after you shared Deidara's little _news _with us, and he asked me why Kazuku hadn't come back to the base with me. I told him that he had been taken by enemy shinobi from his old village, Konoha. So the guy just got up and left, and I assume that he went to Konoha to get the son of a bitch himself.

"Anyway, right before he left, he asked me to make sure _she_ was safe, no matter what. I decided that the best way to do that would be to stay by her side day and night. So I slept _next _to her_…_this time." Hidan added the last comment with a husky tone to his voice, playfully eyeing Sakura and grinning stupidly.

Deidara and Sakura both cried out in indignation, saying simultaneously, "_This time?!"_

Sasori held up a hand in their direction, silencing them and stopping them in their attempt to, yet again, strangle the man in front of him.

"Sakura-san, why don't you, Kisame and Deidara go to the kitchen and fix breakfast? I will finish here with Hidan."

The three nodded their heads, Sakura running back through the hole of rubble, quickly grabbing the sweatpants she had worn the night before. They then proceeded to the kitchen, Kisame and Sakura sitting in their usual places while Deidara prepared them breakfast. The three of them knew, without saying, that Sasori did not wish to be alone with Hidan because of his little trick with Sakura but because he wished to get more information about Kazuku's whereabouts and Itachi's departure.

Sakura glanced up to where Kisame was sitting, diagonally right of her. She gave him a meaningful _get out, I need to talk to him alone_ look, with even a little pleading in her eyes. Kisame stood and, slightly pouting, exited the kitchen. Sakura now sat alone, awkwardly waiting for Deidara to finish. When he turned around, bringing their food to the table, she drew a breath and was about to speak, but stopped when she noticed the ignorant attitude that Deidara put off. He simply ignored her attempts to speak, sitting in silence, eating quite properly.

Sakura sighed. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but she had to try.

"Deidara-kun, you have to let me explain exactly what has been happening with me. I would appreciate it if you _didn't _tune me out like you are doing now."

Deidara sighed as well, placing his chopsticks next to his noodle bowl (why he had chosen to make noodles for breakfast I don't know) and looking up at Sakura indifferently.

She stared ahead of her at the man she held so dear, wondering how she possibly could have brought herself to hurt him so badly. But Deidara cleared his throat meaningfully, prompting her to start speaking.

"Deidara-kun, when I first arrived here, I hated everyone in this place. Well, I hated you all even though I had never met you. I hated Itachi the most, but I had met him, so I had very good reason.

But then I got to know each of you personally. I began to love all of you; you are all like my family. I would give my life for you."

Silent tears welled up in Sakura's eyes and began to spill over, remembering how she had felt exactly the same way about those she had abandoned. Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade, Ino, Hinata, Sai…

Sasuke-kun...

_No, _he_ abandoned _me_I hate him; Itachi would never do anything like that to me. _

She closed her eyes, allowing herself to cry freely. Her voice shook, but her eyes, once reopened, did not waver, and her heart did not either.

"He raped me. That part…is completely true. And although my struggle was minimal, I felt my heart shattering over and over again. I was betraying Sasuke, I was betraying my village, all those I loved there, and most of all, I was betraying you. Deidara-kun, I apologize for that.

But what is done can not be taken back. I saw so much of Sasuke in him, and I couldn't help my impending affections. I didn't like how I felt, not one bit. But then…Hidan came. Itachi stood up for me; he protected me…he spoke, for the first time, as if I was his equal. Not just something to throw around. And…I was so happy…it was like all those times Sasuke had done the same, being the gentlemanly Uchiha he was…what did I expect, they are brothers…"

Sakura laughed slightly, realizing that she had been rambling. She lifted her head and wiped the steadily falling tears from her cheeks, and, now wiping her eyes, she looked directly into Deidara's. This caused him to jump slightly; the crystal determination in her eyes was striking, almost to a disturbing level.

"Deidara-kun, I would over all like to apologize for hurting you so badly. I purposely acted as if I enjoyed kissing Itachi in the hall to make sure you knew that it—we—would never be able to happen. It wasn't because I didn't like you; actually, it was quite the opposite. If we had continued our affair, you surely would have been killed. Itachi would never have allowed it. So, again, I am completely in your debt."

Sakura did not wait for Deidara to respond. She knew he would never forgive her completely for breaking his heart so spectacularly, but she knew that they would speak again, in time.

But she stopped at the utterance of her name.

"Sakura…"

She turned, expecting to see Deidara at his place at the table, looking very downcast and trodden on. But instead, she almost collided with his tall form that had appeared directly behind her without her noticing.

The next thing she knew, his large arms were embracing her passionately, and his mouth was covering hers. Her eyes widened, and she stood, shocked, for a few seconds before attempting to break the kiss. She did, and she told him very softly to please let go. But he would not, and he only pushed her hard against the wall.

Her voice rose a pitch when his hand wormed it's was up her shirt, not being as gentle or as careful as they were only a few days ago. She panicked, anxiously trying to push him off while he pulled her shirt over her head forcefully.

She could take no more.

"_Please, Deidara-kun, stop! You are not thinking!"_She had closed her eyes tightly and started crying when she suddenly felt his immense weight lifted off her. She slumped to the floor in a shaken heap, sobbing violently at the betrayal of her loved friend. But as she cried harder, a warm finger ran across her cheek, wiping all the tears.

She know that touch.

Soft, gentle, full of concern. Not quite love, but something very close.

She smiled and placed her hand softly over the one on her cheek.

"Itachi-kun…"

All at once, she felt the air around her expand with chakra. A very unfriendly chakra. But one she was also familiar with. She snapped her eyes open and closed her hand tightly around the one under it, yanking the attached arm down. The body came with it.

The man she suspected it had been was now at eye level with her. She _knew _it was him. She knew it was, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to believe it. She froze as she studied him. He had grown…not just taller or more muscular, but he had just…grown. His hair had gotten longer, long enough that he could hold it back, which he did. It hung loosely, the band wrapping around it just below the base of his neck. It looked just like his brother's.

His brother Itachi's.

"Sasuke…kun…"

She cried harder, but was not realizing it. Her face remained the same: wide-eyed, pale and tear-stained. She felt her tears falling onto her thighs and knees, but she did not acknowledge them.

She only stared into the abyss in front of her. His eyes were not the same. She shuddered as she examined them. They were now a deep shade of purple, with tiny black slits to replace his pupils. But she knew they were not his eyes anymore, and she grasped the hand she held tighter, feeling the blood from her grip run down her arm. But the man before her did not take notice of this; he thrust her once again against the wall, violently licking her neck. As he bit her, she stopped crying.

Her eyes looked frantically around for a route of escape. She saw a hole in the wall opposite her that he had obviously come through; but she did not hear him make it as she had been screaming to get away from Deidara. Her mind then fogged over with blind hatred, and she knew that she would have to kill him.

_This is not Sasuke-kun. This is Orochimaru._

She breathed harder, trying to vent all of her frustration.

_ He thinks he can take the man I love…_

She kicked him hard in the groin, causing him to let go and stumble backwards.

_…then barge into my home…_

She caught sight of a blood-drenched Deidara and screamed; not out of fear, but out of anger, hatred and frustration. She picked Sasuke up and threw him with all her might against the wall, then sprinted over to where he was embedded in the wood, punching him as hard as he could in the stomach. He coughed blood all over her shirt.

_...kill my friends, ruin my kitchen…_

He was about to raise his head and his fists, but she caught both of his arms in hers and ripped them out of his shoulders as hard as she could. The blood spurted all over her face and clothes, and he screamed. She threw his arms onto the table, and then kicked him hard in the neck.

_…but worst of all… _

She laughed crazily at the sound of his neck cracking under her shin. She had lost control. She was laughing so loudly that it called the attention of Kisame, Hidan and Sasori, who were all the way on the other end of the compound. As a matter of fact, it was more of an amused shriek than a laugh.

…_h__e thinks he can touch me._

She walked slowly over to Sasuke's lifeless body before her, her laughing stopped. She picked him up by his hair, and saw the rest of his body turn in the air, as it was no longer held straight by his neck. His face was splattered with blood as well, and she licked it off, wanting to see her love's face once again before he was gone forever.

Then she kissed him, holding his cold body close, and threw it to the floor, causing more blood to spew out of his wounds and onto the floor and her legs. She took a kunai out of her leg wrap that she always wore, and removed her shirt and bra. She then found where her heart was in her chest, and she pointed the end of the small knife at it.

The three shinobi, who had stood aghast and disgusted at the scene before them, now moved as quickly as they could towards the girl. They would not let her kill herself now, not after what she had done. They had to keep her alive, for their own personal reasons and reasons that would over all benefit their organization.

But she turned her head slightly to look at them, and they stopped in their tracks as they saw her blood splattered face, that was normally so elegant, contorted with sorrow.

She dug the knife into her delicate skin, but she did not stab herself. She turned the knife so it would act as a sort of scraping edge. She began to carve the character for _darkness_, not making a sound as the sharp metal sliced and scraped her skin. The blood ran down her stomach, dropping into a puddle on the floor below her.

When she was done, she once again walked over to Sasuke's body, removing his shirt as well. She repeated the same action, but this time she carved the character for _pure_ into his chest.

Hidan, Kisame and Sasori did not understand this ritualistic behavior in the least. When she was done, she merely got up and left, handing the kunai to Kisame as she walked out the door. All three of them, even Hidan, averted their eyes from her bare chest as she walked by. But not one of the three did _not_ glance at the character that was now a permanent feature on her. As the strong scent of blood filled their nostrils when she walked past, they were all thinking the same grave thought. The mark would scar, and never fade.


	9. Separation Anxiety

Ch. 8

Separation Anxiety

_A blinding white light enveloped Sakura as she huddled closer to its warmth. She opened her eyes to see a __blank nothingness__ in front of her, and she reached out to touch it_

_The light spoke._

_"Sakura…."_

_She inhaled sharply, recognizing the voice. _

_"N-Naruto-kun…"_

_"Sakura-chan, don't be so sad__ You know I don't like it when you get sad, right?"__Sakura then felt the sobs pouring out of her like rain. The goofy laugh that would cheer her up so many times resounded throughout the completely white world. But then it all turned black, and Sakura could see below her, as if she was looking through glass. _

_She looked down to see a figure laying, motionless, on the ground. His long ebony hair was matted with blood, and it covered his face, preventing Sakura from making out his features. His limbs were splayed about at odd angles, and she knew that almost all if them were broken beyond repair. Then another figure approached the seemingly dead one. _

_Then the world flashed once again, and she found herself looking at the same scene as if nothing had happened. But this time she was looking at it as if she was standing right next to it. _

_It continued on. _

_The woman from the other world stood above the motionless figure, not moving at all. Most of her face was covered by her hair as well, but the parts that were visible were covered with blood. The woman's hair was drenched with blood and matted with dirt, making it look an ugly shade of orange-brown. _

_She kneeled down over the boy, brushing his hair out of his face. _

_Sakura's breath caught. _

_The body was Sasuke's. His face was covered in blood as well, and he weakly turned his head to look at the kneeling woman above him. _

_Sakura tried to move to him, to help him, but found herself suddenly chained to a rock. She tried to use all her strength to free herself, to reach the man she loved, but she could do nothing. The bonds were too strong. _

_So she continued to remain still, watching as the young woman ran a shaking hand down the side of Sasuke's face, wiping a smear of blood from his cheek. It began to rain, and Sakura gasped when she did not get wet. The rain merely fell everywhere else around her, but it left her untouched. _

_But she drew a shuddering breath when she saw the woman snatch her hand away from Sasuke's face, as if she had been scalded. She stared down at her hand, and Sakura could barely make out the tears falling from under __the woman's__ soaked hair. _

_The hair…_

_Dirt and blood were beginning to drip out of the young woman's hair. Sakura slumped down against the rock when she saw patches of a soft pink hue bursting through the drab mix of dirt and blood. She knew it was herself, but she seemed…older. This Sakura moved with much more grace, and her hair was now down to her waist. She was much taller, her legs longer. _

_Sasuke seemed, from what the younger Sakura could see, much older than she remembered as well. In a nutshell, he looked just like Itachi, but with a different, more bluish tint to his black hair. _

_She continued to watch the scene. _

_The woman slowly reached down to the side of her right leg, pulling a kunai out of the weapon pouch strapped there. She raised the small knife slowly with both hands above the barely-alive Sasuke's chest, and Sakura screamed, telling her older self not to do it, no matter what. But she found that they could not hear her, either. But Sakura could her them._

_"Sasuke-kun…I…"_

_The boy turned his head once again towards the other Sakura._

_"Sakura…please, let me see your face once more…"__The older Sakura removed one hand from the raised kunai to pull the stray hair from out of her face. When she did, the dying Sasuke brought a broken hand up to her face, and he smiled slightly when her warm skin touched his mangled hand. _

_"Sakura…I love you…"_

_The older Sakura smiled as well and said, "I love you too…I always have…"_

_The young Sakura was now sobbing again. She struggled harder to free herself, and, this time, she felt the chains tying her steadily loosening._

_But she was too late. The older Sakura brought her hand away from her face, where it had been resting on Sasuke's, and she was clutching the kunai once again. And with one, final scream of agony, the older woman brought her weapon down, driving it completely into the man's chest. Younger Sakura finally pulled free. She screamed, trudging over to the dead Sasuke. _

_When she reached his body, __the older Sakura looked up. The younger one gasped as the elder looked straight at her, emerald clashing with emerald. Then, the elder spoke. But when she did, her voice was not what it was only a few seconds before. _

_"Sakura…you did this. You did this…he's dead because of you…"_

_The younger Sakura shook as she answered._

_"No, no, I couldn't have. You misunderstand, this had to by your doing, after all you're the one covered in blood…"__But the elder shook her head, and pointed slowly towards the younger. The smaller girl looked down at herself, and started to breathe quicker as she saw that the blood from the girl opposite her had disappeared completely and _she _was now covered with it. She vomited as the metallic scent filled her nose and mouth. _

_"But…but, I saw you…you stabbed him, it was you…it was…"__But the older Sakura laughed cruelly, and shook her head. She pulled Sasuke's shirt down, revealing a scar that said "pure". Sakura then felt an intense burning on her chest as well, and immediately ripped her shirt down, only to reveal a marking of the same sort saying "darkness". _

_The elder spoke. _

_"Sakura, you killed him. It was your fault. You are permanently marked as a killer. Now die…"_

_And Sakura screamed as her older self tossed the kunai at her head, and she toppled over, blacking out. _

"Sakura…"

Sakura groaned.

"Sakura, please…"

She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the blinding light above her. When everything came into focus, she saw Deidara hovering over her yet again, looking extremely worried. Blood crusted an entire side of his face, and he had some nasty cuts all over his cheek.

And, remembering all too well what had happened, Sakura snapped up and looked fervently around for enemies.

But Deidara tried to push her back down gently, telling her that everything was alright, that there was nothing to worry about. Sasuke was dead. She merely brushed his hand off her shoulder, not wanting to lay back down, afraid she would go back to sleep.

"Sasuke-kun…"

Sakura did not cry, but only stared at the wall opposite her, her dream flooding back to her. _Well, looks like the future me was right. It was my fault…_

She then remembered another thing.

"Deidara-kun, I thought you were dead! Are you alright? Do you need help, I can heal those cuts on your face if you want me to—"

But he held up a hand, telling her that he was okay. She smiled, but it vanished as the one last, lonely memory came back to her. She glanced up at Deidara with hurt in her eyes, and he stared back with understanding. He cleared his throat and looked away, smiling in a sad sort of way.

"Ah…so you still remember that too, yeah…?"

She nodded her head.

"Deidara-kun, why did you try to…to…?"

She couldn't finish her sentence. But she didn't need to.

"Sakura-san…I don't really know. I just…I love you. I want the best for you, and when you didn't seem to understand that, I wanted to force it on you, yeah."

She nodded again, understanding. She was not angry with Deidara, nor was she in any way upset with him. She was just disappointed that he had let his feelings get so out of control.

"It's alright, Deidara-kun. I understand; I was in a similar position a few years ago. I felt like the man I loved didn't think my feelings mattered, so I yelled at him. I tried to force them on him, but he still left. And now he decides to come back, with a demon snake locked up inside of him. It ended up in his death anyway."

Deidara stared down at the floor. Then a thought struck him.

"Sakura-san, you know that I would never hurt you ever again right? I don't know what happened then, yeah…"

She nodded for the third time.

But then she noticed three others enter the room, each carrying a medical supply or parcel of food in each hand.

She smiled when Sasori placed a cool towel around her shoulders, and gratefully accepted the bowl of noodles that Hidan gave her. Kisame held what looked like antibiotics, and Sakura stared inquisitively at them. But nobody noticed. They were all staring at Kisame.

Kisame blushed slightly and handed the antibiotic to Sasori.

"Sasori, why don't you do it…I'm sure she rather it be you…"

Sasori nodded and waved his hand to dismiss them from the room. Sakura asked him what was going on, but he didn't answer right away.

When the door closed behind the three exiting shinobi, Sasori spoke.

"Sakura-san, would you please remove your bandages for me?"

Sakura only stared, but she trusted Sasori, so she slowly unwrapped the bandages that covered her entire torso. She was going to unwrap them all the way, but Sasori stopped her right above her nipple, which she was grateful for.

"That's quite enough. Thank you."

She looked down at her chest, expecting to see a jagged cut from Sasuke's nails or whatnot, but what she saw surprised her entirely.

Looking down, she saw a bloody character carved over her heart. It was upside-down to her, meaning that Sasori could read it fine. She asked him what it said.

"Don't you remember, Sakura-san? You carved this into your chest after you killed Sasuke and Orochimaru. You also carved one similar into Sasuke; his says _pure, _and your says…_darkness._"

Sakura gasped. She didn't know that she had done this. But Sasori dismissed it with mild curiosity, and spread the antibiotic over the bloody writing.

She bit her lip. The ointment stung, but she knew it helped.

"Thank you, Sasori-san."

He had finished and was now screwing the lid back onto the tub. He smiled at her, telling her that it was his pleasure.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say. But a thought that had been nagging on the back of Sakura's mind finally crept into her mouth, and she voiced it to the man next to her.

"Sasori-san, do you by chance know when Itachi will be back?"

Sasori glanced up at her.

"Well, according to Hidan, he left this morning. With Itachi's skill and demeanor, he will probably get Kazuku back today. But if he does not manage to get Kazuku alone, then he will retreat and return to Konoha with Kisame and Hidan."

Sakura nodded. But she looked back up at Sasori when he spoke again.

"But then again, He will probably send Deidara, Hidan and I to retrieve Kazuku if he does not succeed alone. I'm sure he would prefer to stay here with you and send us rather than go himself. Either way, he should be back in two days tops."

She nodded again.

"Sakura-san, you must rest. Your encounter with Sasuke must have drained you very much, both physically and emotionally."

She lay down as an acknowledgement of his words. Sakura turned her back towards him so that she faced the wall. The mention of Sasuke's name caused her to retreat into a mental shell yet again.

She felt Sasori run his hand down her bare arm lovingly, and she still said nothing.

He got up and walked towards the door, but she stopped him right as he was about to go out.

"Sasori-kun…thank you."

She heard him exit, and smiled into her pillow as she quickly drifted off to sleep.

Hidan, Kisame, Deidara and Sasori were all huddled together around the small table in the middle of the Akatsuki kitchen. They were discussing how to approach Sakura and question her about Sasuke without upsetting her again. Kisame proposed that they just pay her; Hidan said force would be the best way; Deidara suggested that they should just be cautious in what they say and how they say it, being the most reasonable request yet. But Sasori decided that none of these things were the right way to do it, and further thought, leaving all of them hanging.

He leaned back, running a hand down his face in exasperation. _They are all such idiots, with the exception of Deidara. Well, sometimes. _

"I think…we should let Itachi-san talk to her about it."

Kisame, Hidan and Deidara all stared at Sasori when he voiced his suggestion. Noticing their incredulous gaze, he knew that they would only see reason if it slapped them in the face.

"Well, not to rub anything in…"

He glanced at Deidara.

"But Sakura-san loves Itachi-san. She would never get angry with him or hurt him. And if she did, it would be impossible to touch him, even for her. Especially for her."

Kisame chuckled.

"Sasori, she loved Sasuke too. But look at him now. The bastard ended up having his arms torn out and his body mutilated, despite whatever feelings the kunoichi had for him. Personally, I think she's snapped. Unstable, if you ask me. We're all in danger."

Deidara stood up, angrily pounding his fist on the table.

"Sakura-san is _not _unstable! She was just defending herself, and went too far. She was angry at him for leaving her and giving his body over to that demon snake. And when she remembered that it wasn't Sasuke anymore anyway, she beat the shit out of him. We all do that too; go overboard, I mean. She's just like the rest of us. So shut it, fishy."

Kisame looked affronted at being called "fishy". He made a small, girlish noise and turned his nose up at the blonde.

"I believe that you are _both _right. Yes, it's true that she brutally killed Sasuke-san, regardless of her supposed love, and yes, she is dangerous. But not in the way you think."

The three men around Sasori stared. He inwardly rolled his eyes. _They don't get it at all…_

"I mean that she is dangerous because of her kekkei genkai."

They still stared, but in a different manor. They were gazing back in disbelief, astonished that such a young girl, who couldn't even beat one of them while training, could possess a kekkei genkai.

Sasori, detecting their surprise, explained.

"I'm fairly sure that Sakura-san is not aware that she possesses such a trait. But _I _am quite sure that she does. After Sakura-san lost control, I was doing research on her clan, wondering what would have made her go mad for a brief time. While researching, I came upon something quite interesting. Select members from the Haruno clan posses the kekkei genkai _Waru Jishin, _or _Split Self. _It basically means that Sakura-san has a dual personality, the one residing in her mind being the much stronger and much more violent one of the two."

The other three shinobi listened intently. They inched in closer, not wanting to miss anything. Sasori sighed, then continued.

"Normally, the Waru Jishinonly emerges in times of extreme pressure or exertion, normally during the usual shinobi's genin years. But for Sakura-san, the revelation was delayed, and Sakura-san has no idea that it actually happened. In short, she thought that it was only a small burst of power that allowed her to defeat Sasuke. She has not even thought of the prospect of Waru Jishin.

So, I have decided to inform Itachi-san of absolutely everything that has occurred, and he is to tell Sakura-san about the Kekkei Genkai she possesses and then question her about her encounter with his brother."

Kisame, Hidan and Deidara nodded. They knew that Sasori's logic was always infallible, so they chose to work with his tactics on the field. This time, they would do the same.

The four shinobi exited the room, each thinking their own thoughts centered on the pink-haired kunoichi down the hall. They returned to their rooms alone, waiting anxiously for Itachi's return.

Sakura woke for the second time that day. Her room was dark, the shutters pulled closed. Nonetheless, she could see well enough, and she stumbled into the bathroom. She flipped the light on and squinted for a few seconds, her eyes adjusting to the bright hanging light. She ran the hot water and splashed her face, welcoming the warm tingling sensation when she dried herself with the towel. She used the restroom, and, gasping, remembering something that she had considered a few days ago. She quickly flushed the toilet and pulled her sweatpants back up, slumping against the wall. She did not cry, but she thought long and hard.

She was late.

She tried to remember…had Itachi used a condom…?

_Yes. _

Then what…?

Silence.

_Oh god no…_

Deidara.

She cried now, frantically thinking what Itachi would do with the child. It would be impossible for him _not _to know; the blonde hair, crystal blue eyes…all inheritable traits. And the kekkei genkai…what would he think if the child did not possess the sharingan or the kekkei genkai that ran through her family? She knew that she did not possess it, but it was completely possible to pass the gene onto her baby…

_But condoms only work 97 of the time. What if Itachi and I were in the unlucky 3...?_

She did not harbor any contempt towards having Deidara's child; only fear at what Itachi would do. She was aware that he knew that she and Deidara had had sex, but…he may not be able to handle the fact that it wouldn't be his child.

And that brought her to another thought.

_Who would raise it…?_She knew, of course, that she would be the child's mother…but she lived with Deidara as well as Itachi, and it would be impossible for the stone shinobi to not notice that her child was his. _With my luck, it'll probably grow up to look exactly like Deidara…_

Itachi, of course, would want a hand in raising it. He would be its father technically, but Deidara was the child's blood father.

But as she thought further, she remembered there were many options. She could have an abortion—no, she couldn't. She could have the child in secret and get Sasori to help her through her pregnancy, then decide what to do with it. And of course, the most appealing option was adoption.

_God, _she thought. _I can't do this on my own…_

She shook as she sobbed, and she knew that she had to tell both of the men as soon as she could. But the problem was deciding who to tell first.

_I'll wait for Itachi to get back, and tell them together…_

So, having decided to wait for her lover, she cried some more, then washed her face again. She exited the bathroom and walked over to turn on the light to her main room.

When she did, she gasped, then smiled.

"Itachi-kun…"

The raven-haired man was standing in front of the open window. She smiled wider, knowing that it was just like him to make a grand entrance. She ran over and hugged him, taking in his musky scent under the smell of blood that coated him. He wrapped his arms around her as well, and buried his face in her hair.

"Sakura…I missed you."

She tilted her head upwards and kissed him gently.

"I missed you too," she said softly.

She took his hand and led him to the bed. He lay down, and she crawled on top of him. Although they were in this suggestive position, she had no intention of taking it any further tonight. She still had to tell him…well, just talk to him.

She wiggled her arms under his heavy shoulders, hugging him close. She laid the side of her face on his chest.

"Where did you go? We all assumed that you went to retrieve Kazuku, but we didn't know for sure."

She felt his steady breathing break as he inhaled deeply.

"Hn."

Sakura was puzzled at his ironically unresponsive response, but she did not push him. She would ask again later. Picking her head up off of his chest, she decided that now was a better time than ever.

"Itachi-kun, could you please come with me to the kitchen?"

He raised his eyebrows at the girl on top of him, thinking that her question was quite peculiar. He would go anywhere, as long as it was with her.

"Of course."

She smiled, rolled off and dragged him off of the bed. She took his hand, pulling him toward the door.

"Sakura, is everything alright? You seem…excited about something."

She just turned and nodded, but he now saw even a little bit of apprehension in her eyes. He cocked his head, not understanding for once.

When the reached the kitchen, she sat him down and told him to wait there. He nodded obediently, not wanting to break her intense focus on whatever she was thinking about.

She reentered after a few minutes, pulling Deidara behind her in the same fashion she had pulled him. Itachi tensed mentally, but did not show it physically, although Deidara did. He stopped, jerking his hand out of Sakura's.

"Sakura-san, what's going on, yeah?"

She pulled him quite forcefully this time, nearly throwing him into a chair. He scowled at the chair, then at Itachi, who returned his gaze indifferently.

Sakura sat at the end of the table, with Itachi at her left and Deidara at her right.

"Itachi-kun, Deidara-kun—"

Both Deidara and Itachi made noises of disapproval at the other being addressed as "-kun". But Sakura scowled at them fiercely, and they immediately regained composure.

"Both of you, I have something very important we need to discuss."

Itachi gazed at her, activating his Sharingan. He looked into her eyes, trying to discern her feelings to determine the matter at hand. But he could not, so he changed his eyes back to their normal obsidian, and stared ahead of him at Deidara.

Deidara suddenly became very serious, wondering if she had heard them talking about the kekkei genkai she possessed. He mentally shook his head, knowing that there was no way that she could know about that. So he sat and braced himself for what was to come.

Sakura was pretty sure that this meeting would not end well at all, but she had to tell them sometime. Better early then never, in this case.

And she had to make sure that Itachi used a condom before she told them exactly whose baby she was pretty sure it was.

"Now I don't want this to be awkward for you two, but I have to ask you both some questions."

The nodded.

"Itachi, try to remember something for me."

He nodded.

"Did you use a condom when we slept together?"She tried not to smile at the reaction that her question merited. Itachi's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, and his eyes flashed, showing his embarrassment. Deidara turned quite red, and let out a loud laugh before a glance of death from Sakura shut him up.

Itachi, managing to maintain his composure, answered her.

"Yes."

Sakura grimaced.

"Both times?"

His cheeks flushed a darker pink.

"Yes."

She sighed, and she closed her eyes for a minute before turning to Deidara, who immediately straightened up, his eyes wide.

"Deidara, I know for a fact that _you _did not. This brings me to my next…topic of discussion."

She leaned back, so she could face both of them.

"I'm pregnant."

This time, she didn't feel like smiling at the way they reacted. Deidara just sat and stared, while Itachi stood and walked over to her. He stopped quite close, and, without making eye contact, spoke.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. He slumped down onto the table. Neither wanted hug her while the other was there, but they were both longing to hold her and never let her go. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, but she took no notice and wiped them away hurriedly.

"Now, until the baby is born, there's no way of telling whose child it is. But, because of past circumstances…I'm assuming its Deidara's."

Itachi sank further into the wood of the table, burying his face in his hands. Sakura tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it away. He looked up at her with hurt in his eyes. Sakura gasped slightly. It was the first time she had seen Itachi show true, sincere emotion before, other than lust. She quickly averted her eyes from his face, the sight too much for her to take. She turned to Deidara, who smiled weakly at her. She smiled back, even weaker, and found her voice.

"No matter what you two _or _I feel, we can't change it. I don't want to be pregnant, believe me. But there are options. I have considered them all, and decided that the best thing to do would be to give it to the village a few miles away. It would have a loving home there, away from…all this."

Itachi was becoming angry, Sakura could tell. She jumped when he actually showed it.

"_All this? _What is _all this? _There's nothing wrong with a child being raised here! And I thought you wanted children."

Sakura was genuinely surprised. He was acting like a child, huffing and puffing and pouting, crossing his arms and staring at the wall. And how the hell did he know she wanted children? She never told him.

She decided to discuss it later.

She turned, once again, to Deidara. But the man looked the same as Itachi, crossing his arms, although he was glaring at her.

"What is it with you two?" she asked.

"Why must you two always act like this if you don't get it your way? Oh, and what! You want the kid to have three parents? It would live here with me, and you Itachi, _and _you, Deidara! I mean, he might as well belong to all of us! C'mon, Sasori and Kisame and Hidan, get in on the bidding for Sakura's kid!" She was yelling, and she snarled the last few words. She didn't know how they could be so selfish. She threw a chair into the wall, causing the wood to shatter and the wall to crack, exposing the dim light of outside. It had begun to rain, and the thunder drowned out the sound of the chair crashing into the wall. She glared at Itachi fiercely, then turned to Deidara, who fell out of his chair at her gaze. She picked up the table, causing Itachi to fall, as he was sitting on it, and merely tossed it out of the way. She walked through the newly cleared pathway, and exited, stomping violently the entire way.

When she was out of sight and they could no longer hear her passionate cursing and ferocious stomping, Itachi and Deidara looked at each other, both having fallen to the floor. They glared at each other, and Itachi moved to leave. But Deidara started a rant, one that Itachi ignored. Nonetheless, he was stopped from exiting anyway when Hidan, Kisame and Sasori blocked the doorway, the first two fighting to get through first. They moved, however, when they were met with Itachi's icy stare.

"Hey, Itachi, welcome back! Did you get Kazuku, how'd it—"

Itachi exited without a word.

"What's his problem?" asked Hidan. Kisame, who had spoken before, shook his head and laughed.

"He's always like that. You just gotta get used to it."

But they were silent as they surveyed the kitchen. It was originally the loud screaming of Sakura that had drawn them here, but they realized that she had been the one attacking this time, not the victim. The table was upside-down in the corner, one of its legs missing. A chair was shattered against the wall, and the wall itself had a large crack at the point of impact. Lastly, Deidara was in a heap on the floor, but he stood immediately after their entrance, brushing wood shavings and dust off of his pants. (A/N: the Akatsuki members don't usually wear their cloaks in the walls of the compound. They wear their traditional shinobi mesh, with ninja pants or sweatpants.)


End file.
